Frozen Hearts
by Finmonster
Summary: Wreck-It Ralph has gotten settled into his new home in the Magic Kingdom. But getting settled has only brought forth that something is missing. Is it just too much time on his hands or is something else? What will happen when Ralph tries to make the Magic Kingdom a better place in his own way and what will the repercussions be when a new arrival catches his attention?
1. Something Missing

**Frozen Heart**

 **Prologue: Something Missing**

"What am I doing here?" he grumbled to himself, his deep voice accompanied by a long sigh that was drowned out by the party occurring around him. The stately ballroom, designed in the style of a Southern mansion, was currently housing a party for a relatively small number of people, the lights dimmed to fit the mood of the evening. A long table loaded with food and drinks along with carved jack-o-lanterns had been set against one of the white colored walls, while orange and black streamers were strung up in the air along with plastic bats and spiders that hung from the ceiling. The sound of _The Monster Mash_ filled the air and a number of people were dancing near the center of the room.

Sitting by himself in one of the corners was a man who looked completely out of place. He was a mountain of a man, easily standing ten feet tall, though he seemed shorter slouched over in a chair that was clearly too small for him. His brown hair was slicked back and deep brown eyes scanned the room in awkward nervousness, the normally ruddy skin of his face now painted a sickly green with black stitches drawn across his forehead. His massive hands, also painted green, were disproportionately large even for a man of his size and were currently clenched delicately around the crystal glass of punch he was holding, looking as if he was putting all of his effort into not shattering in in his massive palms. He was dressed in a dirty, black jacket over a ripped, orange t-shirt along with equally dirty, black pants and heavy black boots. A pair of fake bolts sticking out of the sides of his neck completed the Frankenstein's Monster costume.

The man sighed again, staring into his punch as if by looking into the red liquid, he could find the answers he sought.

"Ralph?" a voice questioned through the crowd, causing the man to lift his head up. Looking, the man, Ralph, saw a creature in a costume approaching him. The creature walked upright, standing almost eight feet tall, towering over most of the other party goers but nonetheless stood a head shorter than Ralph himself. The creature wore a black suit with a white button-up shirt and a red tie. What wasn't covered by clothing was covered with blue shaggy fur dotted with purple spots. A long tail stuck out from the seat of his pants and dragged on the ground behind him, black ridges running up it to his spine. His fingers and toes ended in black claws and he more a plastic mask depicting a human face with round cheeks and a prominent nose.

"Sully?" Ralph questioned with a smirk, "I didn't know you go dragged into this too."

Chuckling, the creature, Sully, lifted the mask to reveal his furry, smiling face. He had bestial features with a black snout and beady, black eyes, as well as a mouth full of sharp teeth and short horns growing from his forehead.

"Well, originally, I was going to bring Boo trick-or-treating but Mr. and Mrs. Wazowski decided I needed to spend more less time hanging out with kids," Sully, replied with a chuckle as he sat down in a seat next to Ralph.

Ralph chuckled as he took a sip of his punch.

"Same thing with me," Ralph replied, "Felix thinks I've been spending too much time with Vanellope. That I should meet people "my own age." Whatever the bits that means."

"I think you know what that means, Ralph," Sully commented with a chuckle.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ralph questioned, quirking an eyebrow at Sully.

"Let me ask you this," Sully stated as he settled into his seat, "What do you do with your time around here? At least, when you're not in that game of yours."

"I don't know, hang around with my friends, I guess," Ralph answered with a shrug.

"And by friends, you mean Vanellope, don't you?" Sully inquired.

"I guess," Ralph confirmed with another shrug, "I mean, everyone else can be pretty busy. Felix went into business with that Gepetto guy not long after we got here and Calhoun opened up that shooting range. Even you have to run the factory. Vanellope's the only one around a lot of the time."

"I understand," Sully said, nodding his head slightly, "But what do you do when Vanellope's not around? When she's in school or doing something else?"

"I...Not much, I guess," Ralph admitted.

"That is what I think Felix was talking about, Ralph," Sully explained, "We've got a lot of time on our hands around here. You need to figure out something to do with it or you're going to get depressed or go stir-crazy. Maybe you don't need a girl, maybe you just need a job or a hobby. Hell, maybe you need all three, I don't know. I just know you need something."

"I….I think I see your point, Sul," Ralph said with a hint of uncertainty, "I'll try to keep that in mind."

"No problem, pal," Sully replied with a smile and a nod.

"So, what exactly are you supposed to be anyway?" Ralph questioned as he looked over Sully's costume.

"Oh, come on, man. Don't you know any American history?" Sully asked in return as he slipped the mask back on and help up peace symbols with both hands, "I am not a crook."

"...Reagan?" Ralph guessed after a moment, causing Sully to groan and wave his hand dismissively at Ralph.

"Why are you dressed up as a president anyway?" Ralph questioned.

"Hey, I have to be a monster all year long, might as well be something more normal on Halloween," Sully explained.

Ralph chuckled, shaking his head as he glanced around the room again. Looking up, he saw a banner hanging over the door that led into the ballroom reading, "Halloween Singles Night!"

"Who's idea was this anyway?" Ralph asked.

"Lottie's, as far as I know," Sully replied, indicating towards a young, blonde woman wearing a witch costume, "This is her house after all."

"But why? I thought she was dating that John Smith guy?" Ralph questioned, indicating towards a young man dressed as a vampire standing with Lottie. He had blue eyes and long blonde hair which he wore in a loose ponytail.

"Well, they're from different movies, when they got here, they were single," Sully explained, "Heck, John's one of the few people around here that had a relationship that ended."

"So, they used to be single?" Ralph questioned.

"Yep, but they eventually found each other," Sully continued, "That's what gave Lottie the idea to throw these parties. She figures no one should be single if they don't want to be."

"I'm sure they had an easier time than a couple shmucks like us," Ralph stated with a chuckle.

"Hey, speak for yourself," Sully replied with a chuckle of his own, "I happened to be very good with the female of the species."

"This is when I remember that you and I are not of the same species," Ralph said as he took another sip from punch.

"Speaking of which, I think I see my next dance partner," Sully said, indicating to a female monster amongst the crowd as he stood up.

"Go get her," Ralph said with a smile and nodded at the girl. Sully nodded and waved his hand as he disappeared into the crowd, leaving Ralph alone again.

Ralph sighed, taking another sip of his punch as he scanned the room again. Most of the party goers were happily chatting with each other and some were even dancing. Ralph couldn't have stood out more if he tried, so it wasn't surprising when he caught someone else's attention.

"Ralph," a voice with a southern drawl said to his side, causing Ralph to jump a little, almost spilling his punch on himself. Turning, he saw Lottie standing next to him, her arms crossed in front of her.

"Oh…uh…hey Lottie," Ralph greeted her nervously, "…Nice, uh…nice party."

"Ralph, Ah didn't invite ya here so ya could sit in the corner and sip punch all night," Lottie stated evenly, "The whole point of this party is to give you a chance to meet other singles livin' round here."

"I know, Lottie, I know," Ralph replied, putting up one of his hands in an effort to calm her, "But I'm not looking to make some sort of romantic connection. I'm fine where I am."

"Don't lie to me, Ralph," Lottie stated, her eyes narrowing at the larger man, "Ah saw yer movie. You were pretty much alone fer thirty years."

"Yeah, and I wasn't pining for female companionship the whole time," Ralph countered.

"Fine," Lottie sighed, rolling her eyes at Ralph, "But ya should at least try. What good does it do ya to sit here by yerself all night?"

"Keeps me from embarrassing myself," Ralph replied before taking another sip of his punch.

"You won't embarrass yerself, Ralph," Lottie pressed, "Everyone here is eager to meet new people. Ah know fer a fact some lovely ladies have had their eyes on you."

"Yeah, right," Ralph replied with a dismissive snort.

"Ah'm serious," Lottie said before grabbing one of Ralph's large arms with both of hers and pulling on him, trying to pull Ralph from his seat. As she did, John wandered over, an amused look on his face.

"Having a good time, Ralph?" John asked with a chuckle.

"Tons of fun," Ralph said sarcastically as Lottie tried futility to pull him out of the chair, "I would appreciate it if you could stop your girlfriend from stealing my arm though."

"Sorry about that," John apologized, "But she does have a point. Why would you want to come to this party to just sit around?"

"It wasn't exactly my idea," Ralph argued, ignoring Lottie's continued attempts to pull him to his feet.

"Still, don't you think you should make the most of it?" John pressed, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at Ralph, "Would it really be all that bad to go up and talk to one of these ladies?"

Ralph sighed dramatically.

"I guess you have a point," Ralph said as he stood up, the loss of resistance causing Lottie to stumble backwards a few feet before she caught herself. She narrowed her eyes at Ralph as she straightened her costume.

"Warn a girl when ye're goin' to do somethin' like that," Lottie groused as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Sorry," Ralph said with a sheepish shrug, before turning his attention to the gathered partygoers, some of whom turned their attention towards him as he towered over them. He noticed a few of the woman looking at him and whispering amongst themselves, causing his unease to rise.

"Go on," Lottie said, urging Ralph on, "Go talk to someone."

"I've never really been good at this whole breaking the ice thing," Ralph replied, beads of sweat forming on his brow.

"It's easy, Ralph," Lottie insisted, taking the large man's hand and leading him towards the other guests, "Just go up and introduce yerself."

Ralph paused again, clearly unwilling to take the final step. Huffing impatiently, Lottie let go of Ralph's hand and walked behind him before giving him a hard shove in the back. Ralph, who was standing uneasily on his feet already, went stumbling forward, accidentally bumping into a woman, almost sending her sprawling.

"Hey!" the young woman, who had dark hair and wore a green dress, shouted indignantly as she spun around to face Ralph, "Watch it!"

"Sorry!" Ralph replied, a panicked look on his face as he held his hands up defensively, Lottie behind him, covering her mouth, aghast at what had happened, "It was an accident!"

"Yeah, that means a lot coming from you, you walking hazard!" the woman barked rudely, "Why anyone invited the likes of you to this party is beyond me."

"Why daenae ye stick a sock in it, Druzella?" a new voice said angrily. Looking to the side, Ralph saw a younger girl approaching him through the crowd. She looked no older than sixteen, with wild, curly red hair that was pulled back in a tight braid that hung to her shoulders and icy blue eyes, both accentuating her pale features. She wore a brown leather jacket over a dark green t-shirt along with blue jeans and brown hiking boots. A bow and a quiver full of arrows were slung around her shoulders.

"How dare you talk to me like that, you little brat!" the woman, Druzella, snarled as she narrowed her eyes at the other girl.

"Look who's talkin', brat," the redhead replied with a dismissive snort, her voice thick with a Scottish accent, "Why daenae ye shove off afore Ah give ye a real reason tae whine?"

Druzella looked like she was about to say something else to the girl but instead huffed indignantly and stuck her nose into the air before turning on her heel and stomping away. The redhead snorted again, rolling her eyes as she turned around to face Ralph.

"Thanks, Merida," Ralph said with an embarrassed smile, looking around and noticing most of the party guests glancing at him and whispering amongst themselves.

"Daenae worry aboot it," the girl, Merida replied before glancing around at the gawking party goers before turning back to Ralph with a smile as the music turned to a slower song, "Fancy a dance?"

"I think you're a little young for me," Ralph replied with a smirk.

"Shut up afore Ah change ma mind," Merida replied as she marched past Ralph, reaching up and grabbing the wrecker's arm, dragging the larger man along behind her. Stepping out onto the dance floor, Merida turned to face Ralph, holding her hands out to him.

"Well?" Merida questioned, watching Ralph fidget expectantly, "Are we gaein' tae dance or nae?"

"I-I…I don't really know how to dance, Red," Ralph said nervously, perspiration gathering on his forehead.

"It's easy, Ralph, even fer a lumix like ye," Merida stated as she reached out and took the wrecker's hands in hers, placing one on her hip before resting her hand on his forearm, "Try nae tae step on ma feet, alright?"

"I make no promises," Ralph chuckled good-naturedly, Merida's friendly attitude putting him at ease. Smiling back at him, Merida took the first step and the two began to dance in a simple back and forth waltz.

"Hey, ye're nae half bad," Merida commented with surprise as they danced.

"I'm as surprised as you are," Ralph replied with a chuckle, glancing over at Lottie, who was grinning and giving him a thumbs-up.

"Nice costume, by th' way," Merida complimented.

"Thanks, wish I could say the same for you," Ralph snickered.

"Whit's 'at supposed tae mean?" Merida questioned indignantly.

"I'm just saying a strong, rebellious, young woman who uses a bow isn't that much of a stretch, Prin-OW!" Ralph began to say, but was interrupted as Merida stepped hard on his foot.

"Oops, sorry," Merida apologized with faux sympathy, continuing the dance unimpeded.

"I thought I was supposed to be the clumsy one," Ralph groused as he glared down at Merida.

"Accidents happen," Merida replied with a shrug and a smirk.

"So, what brings you here?" Ralph questioned, looking to change the subject as they danced.

"Ma mother," Merida answered with a sigh, "Since Ah'm nae interested in any o' th' men from ma area, she figures Ah should try tae meet saemeane at ane o' these thin's."

"So, your mother doesn't know about What's-His-Name then?" Ralph questioned with a smirk.

"Whit are ye talkin' aboot?" Merida replied in confusion.

"You know, the guy you've been talking to in secret," Ralph explained with a knowing grin, "The one from 'out of town.'"

Merida's eyes widened in shock.

"How dae ye know aboot him?" Merida whispered, her eyes darting around at the rest of the party.

"Simple, you talk to Vanellope and Vanellope talks to me," Ralph replied with a shrug before a thoughtful look crossed his face, "Now, what was his name again? It's was like some bodily noise right? Fart? Belch? Oh, wait, now I remember, it's-OW!"

The words died in Ralph's throat instead letting out a cry of startled pain as Merida dug her heel into his foot again, drawing the attention of some of the other partygoers.

"I need that to walk, you know!" Ralph growled down at her.

"Tough luck," Merida fumed as she glared back at Ralph, "Och, Ah shudnae hae told 'at runt anythin'."

"Relax, Red," Ralph replied, glancing around as a few of the partygoers whispered amongst themselves.

"Daenae tell me tae relax, Wreck-It," Merida snarled, "Dae ye know how much trouble th' two of us could be in if this gets oot?"

"I have an idea," Ralph muttered in reply, "Look, I was just trying to tease you, Merida. Didn't mean to upset you."

"It's fine, jist kind o' stressful is all," Merida relented with a sigh, "Please daenae tell Vanellope Ah called her a runt. She's a sweet lass an' Ah shud hae known she wud tell ye. Ah jist….Ah jist daenae want us….daenae want him tae get in any trouble over this."

"I understand, don't worry," Ralph stated with a smirk as they continued to dance, "Let me ask you a question, Red. Does this guy make you happy?"

"...Aye, 'at he does," Merida admitted with a small smile, her cheeks taking on a rosy tint.

"Then I say to hell with the rules," Ralph stated, "Some rules were made to be broken, after all. I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't break a few rules."

"Sugar Rush almost got destroyed because o' whit ye did, Ralph," Merida pointed out with a dubious expression.

"Yeah, but I fixed that," Ralph replied with a shrug, "And along with the way I uncovered a conspiracy, introduced Felix to the love of his life, found myself and met my best friend. So, I think it was a net positive overall."

"Ah suppose ye're right," Merida admitted with a chuckle as the music died down and they stopped dancing, "Thanks fer th' advice, Ralph."

"Thanks for the dance," Ralph replied in turn as he began making his way off of the dance floor, "If you ever need someone to cover for your secret boyfriend, I'm your man."

"Ah'll remember 'at," Merida replied with a chuckle before looking at him in confusion, "Where are ye gaein'?"

"I think I'm going to take off," Ralph replied as he indicated towards the door with his thumb, "I feel like I've partied enough for one night. Have a good night, alright?"

"Ye too," Merida replied, giving Ralph a slightly sad smile as she watched him leave.

After making his way through the mansion, Ralph stepped out into the Halloween night. As he made his way down the stairs that led to the front door, he took a deep breath, taking in the crisp autumn air. Wandering down the driveway and onto the street that led towards Downtown, Ralph stuck his hands into his pocket and allowed his feet to carry him towards home, the streetlights and full moon hanging in the sky lighting his way.

As he reached Downtown, the sounds of children chatting with each other and shouting "trick-or-treat" floated to Ralph's ears, accompanied by laughter and the ringing of doorbells. Making his way through the streets, Ralph saw numerous children in costume wandering about, bags full of candy weighing them down.

Walking around a corner, Ralph found himself walking by a large park that sat near the center of Downtown. Decorations covered the park and a large group of adults were gathered together in costume. Glancing around, Ralph could see many people he recognized, including Felix and Calhoun, the two of them dressed as Super Mario and Samus respectively. Looking closer, Ralph saw that everyone present was with their significant other. The sight caused Ralph to pause in his walk and take a step towards the fence that surrounded the park.

Ralph watched quietly as his friends enjoyed themselves, resting his arms on the iron fence before him. Looking around, Ralph could see couples dancing and laughing with one another or sitting quietly, enjoying each others company. As he watched, Calhoun smiled warmly at Felix as she leaned down and kissed him before taking his hand and holding it tightly. After a moment, Ralph's eyes fell down to his hands as he let out a small sigh.

"Ralph!" a voice exclaimed, snapping the wrecker out of his thoughts, "Ralph, my friend!"

Looking over, Ralph saw a tall, lanky figure stepping through the park gate, waving at him excitedly. The figure was a skeleton who stood as tall as Ralph with spindly arms and legs, dressed in an old-fashion, black tux with a high collar and long tails.

"How wonderful it is to see you!" the skeleton exclaimed as he walked up and wrapped his bony arms around Ralph in a quick embrace.

"Hey, Jack," Ralph greeted with an amused grin, as the skeleton pulled back, "Having a good night, I take it?"

"Splendid, Ralph, simply splendid," the skeleton, Jack, answered as he looked Ralph over, "Love the costume, by the way."

"Thanks," Ralph replied with a chuckle, "What brings you out here?"

"Oh, I had to meet with someone," Jack explained as he began looking around, "It's to discuss-Ah, speak of the devil!"

"Geez, I'm not that bad, Jack," a smooth voice complained from over Ralph's shoulder. Looking behind him, Ralph found two people walking up to him and Jack.

The first was a man who stood roughly the same height as Ralph and Jack. His glowing skin was a ghostly shade of blue and in place of hair, a blue flame burnt on his scalp. He wore a black toga over a grey tunic, the end of which seemed to dissolve into a cloud of black smoke around his feet.

Next to him was a woman who stood a head shorter than him. She had messy auburn hair that tumbled over her shoulders and down to the small of her back, woven with wildflowers of every conceivable color. Her skin glowed as well, though hers was a light, vibrant shade of green, over which she wore a violet colored toga.

"Hades?" Ralph questioned in surprise.

"Hey, Ralph!" Hades exclaimed with a laugh as he pat the wrecker on the shoulder, "Almost didn't recognize you in all that grease paint. Not bad, not bad."

"Thanks," Ralph replied with a chuckle, "What are you doing here?"

"Me and the Gourd Lord here have to work out our joint venture for tomorrow," Hades explained.

"Joint venture?" Ralph asked.

"Dia de Los Muertos," Jack explained, "The Day of the Dead. A perfect holiday for our combined skills."

"They do this every year," the woman added before playfully bumping Hades with her hip, "Introduce me to your friend, honey."

"Oh, right, you two haven't met," Hades said in realization, "Ralph, this is my wife, Persephone."

"Call me Seph, Persephone is such a mouthful," the woman replied with a giggle, holding out a hand which Ralph carefully shook.

"It's nice to meet you," Ralph stated with a grin, "To be honest, I didn't even realize Hades was married."

"Don't worry, getting anything out of him is like pulling teeth," Seph replied with a giggle, "It took me forever to get him to open up."

"Alright, you clucking hens, me and Jack have business to discuss," Hades stated as he rolled his eyes, "Ralph, do me a favor and keep the missus company while we chat?"

"Sure thing," Ralph answered with a snort.

"You're a peach," Hades said, grinning at Ralph with a mouth full of pointed teeth, before he and Jack began walking away, talking as they went.

"So, tell me about yourself, Ralph," Seph said friendly, "I'm usually pretty familiar with all of Hades' friends, so I'm surprised it took so long for me to meet you."

"I….wouldn't really call me and Hades friends," Ralph replied awkwardly, "More….friendly. Though, I've noticed Hades is friendly with most people in that used car salesman sort of way."

"That he is," Seph agreed with a melodic giggle as she walked over to the fence and leaned against it, resting her elbows on the metal bars,"He likes you though, I can tell. But he's not sure what to make of you yet."

"Sounds like most of the bad guys I've met around here," Ralph commented with a snort as walked up next to Seph, resting his hands on the fence as well.

"You're a unique specimen, Ralph," Seph explained, "You're a good guy who's also technically a bad guy. Most of the villains around here don't quite know what to think of you."

"You seem to," Ralph observed.

"I like to think I'm an excellent judge of character," Seph replied with a shrug before leaning in and whispering conspiratorially to him, "Plus, unlike my husband and most of his friends, I actually went and saw your movie.

"You know, no offense, but you don't really strike me as what I'd imagine Hades' type to be," Ralph stated with a smirk.

"We get that a lot," Seph answered with a tired but happy sigh, "I mean even I didn't think we'd work at first. I mean sure, he's tall, dark, and handsome, and he's got that whole bad boy thing going on, and my mother hated him, which was a huge bonus in my books. But despite all that he was still, you know, Hades."

Seph paused as a warm smile spread across her face.

"But as we went along, I figured something out," Seph continued, "Once you got past the smarmyness, past the anger, past the bitter resentment towards his little brother, it turns out Hades is….well not a good guy, but he is the guy I need."

"Do you know what I'm saying, Ralph?" Seph questioned, turning and looking up at Ralph, puzzling over her words in an effort to make herself understood, "Hades, he's not a perfect guy, but I'm not a perfect girl. Together though….it turns out we make each other…."

"Whole?" Ralph provided with a small smile as Seph trailed off.

"That's it!" Seph exclaimed happily, "That's exactly what I'm talking about!"

"You know, you're pretty open for having just met me," Ralph pointed out.

"I'm a bit of an oversharer, it's one of those flaws I was talking about," Seph explained, "At the same time though, you're a really easy guy to talk to, Ralph."

"Thanks," Ralph replied with a chuckle.

"But you get what I'm saying, right?" Seph questioned hopefully.

"Yeah," Ralph answered, the smile slipping away from his face as he looked back at the party, "I get what you're saying."

Following his gaze, Seph observed the party for a moment, chewing her bottom lip as she thought.

"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods tonight?" Seph questioned with a friendly smile, "Your date in there waiting for you to come back?"

"No, I wandered over here from the single's party my friends convinced me to go to," Ralph explained.

"Oh….right sorry, protagonists without love interests are pretty rare around here," Seph apologized with an awkward smile.

"I'm beginning to notice that," Ralph agreed with a melancholy tone.

"Any luck at the party?" Seph asked hopefully.

"Would I be here if I had had any luck?" Ralph questioned in return, quirking an eyebrow as he looked down at Seph.

"No, I guess not," Seph answered. her shoulders drooping, "Sorry."

"It's fine," Ralph replied with a shrug as he turned back to the party, "I wasn't expecting much anyway."

"Why'd you go then?" Seph questioned.

"I didn't want to admit it but my friends are right," Ralph explained with a sigh, "I'm in a rut. Something's missing but….I don't know what."

"You don't think it might be a special someone?" Seph suggested.

"No, it's not that," Ralph answered, glancing at the party again, "I was alone for thirty years and the thought of having a, I don't know, a girlfriend or whatever never even crossed my mind."

"Is that why you keep shooting forlorn looks at the party over there?" Seph questioned, indicating towards the party with her thumb.

"Okay, fine, maybe it has crossed my mind recently, but it's not like that situation is going to change anytime soon," Ralph admitted with a groan as he stood up straight, "I'm a walking disaster, physically and socially, and that doesn't even take into account that all the girls around here are either taken, or secretly taken, or honestly, kind of jerks, or not the same species as me."

"You know that last one isn't actually a deterrent, right?" Seph pointed out, "I mean, you know who runs the Ink and Paint Club, don't you?"

"I know, I know," Ralph said, shaking his hands at Seph in annoyance, "The point is, I don't need a girlfriend. What I need is a hobby or a job or something to keep me from going crazy when my friends aren't around or the kids are in school and can't play my game."

"Any ideas?" Seph asked.

"Not really," Ralph admitted with a defeated sigh, "I get the feeling the Magic Kingdom is not really in any need for demolition work and wrecking stuff is all I'm really good at."

"I wouldn't say that's the only thing you're good at," Seph stated as she glanced at Hades and Jack talking a short distance away.

"What do you mean?" Ralph asked in confusion.

"Ralph, do you know why Jack came out here to talk Hades?" Seph questioned in turn, sighing as her cheerful expression began to slip away.

"I….I don't know," Ralph admitted.

"Because he's not allowed in the party," Seph explained.

"He's….what?" Ralph asked in shocked confusion.

"It's not like he's banned or anything," Seph elaborated as she turned to look at the party, "But if we went in there, we'd cause a stir. People would whisper and stare and eventually someone would mention that maybe this wasn't the type of party for us. Maybe we'd have fun elsewhere, maybe spending time with people like him."

"Because they're good guys," Ralph surmised, glancing at the party as well, "And he's a bad guy."

"Exactly," Seph answered, turning back to Ralph, "I mean it's not like everyone does it, and those that do aren't even really mean about it, it's just….people like Hades….they make the others uncomfortable. They remember what happened in their movies and even though this is supposed to be a place where we let bygones be bygones, not everyone is good at letting things go."

"It doesn't seem to affect him much," Ralph observed as he looked over at Hades laughing with Jack.

"Hades is good at hiding it, and shrugging it off or burying it down. Most of the villains here learn to handle it," Seph explained, following Ralph's gaze, "But if you keep burying things like that, eventually it gets to be too much to bear. And then they're not handling it anymore. I think you're familiar with that, Ralph."

"Yeah, I guess I am," Ralph replied pensively, "What are you trying to get at?"

"I think maybe they shouldn't be burying it like they are," Seph answered, a smile growing on her face, "Maybe they should have a place where they can vent their frustrations with people like them, where they won't be judge."

"You….You want me to set up Bad Guys Anonymous here," Ralph realized, blinking at Seph in shock.

"Exactly!" Seph exclaimed happily, pointing between the two of them, "See, we are totally in sync right now."

"I….I don't know if that's a good idea," Ralph stated nervously.

"Why not?" Seph questioned, her smile dropping away.

"I'm not….trained for this," Ralph answered, "I could make things worse for them."

"Or you could make it better," Seph countered, she smile growing again.

"I'm...I'm not good at this sort of thing," Ralph argued weakly.

"Nonsense, I just told you how easy you are to open up to," Seph stated, "It's like….an extension of your wreckerness or something. Only instead of breaking down physical barriers, you're like, breaking down emotional ones. You know?"

"Not at all," Ralph answered with a shake of his head.

"Come on, Ralph, you wanted an idea and this is easily the best one you're going to get," Seph pushed taking a few steps towards the wrecker.

"I….I…." Ralph mumbled, thinking back to what Seph had told him, what he had seen of the villains himself, what he remembered of his own ostracization.

"Pleeeeease?" Selph pleaded, sticking out her trembling bottom lip as her eyes grew large and watery.

"Okay, okay," Ralph replied, waving his hands at Seph in an effort to wipe the expression on her face away, "I'll….I'll think about it alright?"

"Yay!" Seph exclaimed happily as she bounced forward and wrapped her arms around one of Ralph's arms and hugged it tightly.

"Whoa there," Ralph heard Hades voice from behind him as the god walked up and lay a hand on the wrecker's shoulder, "You're not making moves on my woman, are you, pal?"

"What!?" Ralph asked in fear and surprise, "No….I…."

"Oh, stop being jealous, Nightlight," Seph admonished as she let go of Ralph and stepped up next to Hades, "Ralph just agreed to help me with something."

"And what something would that be?" Hades questioned, before leaning in towards Seph and muttering, "And I told you not to call me that in public. It ruins my cred."

"It's a surprise," Seph answered as she playfully pinched Hades' cheek, prompting him to pull away, "You'll have to wait and see."

"Yeah….a surprise," Ralph agreed, laughing nervously as he began to walking away, stretching his arms above his head as he went, "Anyway, I should be taking off, getting late, early day tomorrow and all that."

"It was nice to meet you, Ralph," Seph smiled at him, while Hades continued to give him a confused and questioning look, followed by Jack as the skeleton walked up next to him.

"Nice to meet you too," Ralph replied, pointing at Seph and laughing awkwardly before quickly turning around and walking away, "Goodnight!"

The three of them watched as Ralph quickly walked away, following him until he disappeared around a corner.

"Ralph can be rather odd sometimes, can't he?" Jack questioned as he looked towards Hades.

"You aren't kidding, Bonehead," Hades agreed with a shake of his head as he took Seph's arm and began leading her away, not noticing the excited smile that had formed on her face.

A block away, Ralph finally slowed down as he turned onto the street that led to Flynn's Arcade. Taking a deep breath, he let it out as a sigh as he ran one of his large hands through his hair, returning it to its normally messy state.

"Well, Ralph, you wanted something to make life around here more exciting," Ralph muttered to himself as he started walking by the cinema next to Flynn's, "Not really what I had in mind though."

Pausing, Ralph looked up at the night sky, taking a moment to observe the twinkling stars dancing around the full moon hanging above as he collected his thoughts.

"Still, it is something to do, and there's a slim chance I might actually be good at it," Ralph decided with a shrug as he lowered his head, "Besides, it's not like my life can get anymore complicated, right?"

As he turned his attention back towards the road ahead of him, something caught his eye. Glancing over, he saw a poster set up near the entrance to the cinema. Stepping up to it, Ralph was able to squint and make out the picture on the poster through the Halloween gloom.

The poster showed a young, slender woman with her back to the camera. She was dressed in a light blue dress that left her shoulders bare, with a long shawl that hung down past her feet, both articles of clothing sparkling like the stars in the sky above her. Her long, platinum blonde hair was wrapped in a loose braid and decorated with what looked like shining snowflakes. She appeared to be standing on a snowcovered mountaintop, stretching one hand above her head, from which what looked like a stream of magical energy poured from, coalescing into a giant, glowing, light blue snowflake floating above her. Ralph's eyes lingered on the woman for a few moments before he looked up at the title under the "Coming Soon" sign.

"Frozen, huh?" Ralph questioned, before chuckling, "Looks like we'll be getting some new arrivals soon."

Turning away from the poster, Ralph began making his way to the Arcade once more.

"I should take Vanellope to see that," Ralph thought aloud, "I bet she'll get a kick out of it."

A/N: So, here we go, the sequel I promised you guys last week starts here. I will admit, this chapter got away from me a little bit, which reflects how this story will be much longer and grander in scope than the last one. I actually had the idea for this story a good while ago, and I was trying to push through what I wanted to write for Like Dreamers Do just so I could write this one after. As such, I'm very excited to be sharing it with you all, so let me know what you think, as I'm sure a number of you already have an idea of where this story might be headed. As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	2. Bad Guys Anonymous

**Chapter 1: Bad Guys Anonymous**

"You sure about this, Ralph?" the little girl standing next to him asked as they stepped out of Flynn's arcade into the afternoon sun. She stood so short that the top of her disproportionately large head barely reached Ralph's knee. She wore a mint colored hoodie and a skirt that appeared to be made out of a paper candy cup over a pair of candy-striped stockings. Her hair was licorice black, contrasting her pale features and was held up in a ponytail with a red licorice ribbon along with a dozen or so pieces of hard candy stuck in her locks.

"Not really, Vanellope, so you having doubts isn't exactly helping," Ralph grumpled as he adjusted the strap of the burgundy overalls he now wore over an orange t-shirt, the other, broken strap hanging loosely. He glanced down at stack of fliers he held, quickly reading over the information about the first meeting of Bad Guys Anonymous.

"Don't get me wrong, Ralph, you definitely need something to with your time other than sitting around all day being mopey. And yeah, since we've got here, I've done a few races with Turbo," Vanellope replied, adjusting the stack of fliers she had tucked under her arm, "But the rest of these guys….I just don't trust them. They seen kind of shifty."

"Well, I guess that's why we should be doing this," Ralph replied, "Me and the other guys in my old group used to get that reaction all the time. Do you think I'm shifty?"

"No," Vanellope admitted with a sigh, "I guess you're right."

"I hope so," Ralph stated with a sigh of his own.

"So, where should we put these things?" Vanellope inquired.

"Basically anywhere we can," Ralph answered as he handed her a stapler, "Telephone poles and stuff like that. And try to not put your eye out, okay?"

"You got it!" Vanellope replied before she disappeared in a flash of light blue pixels. Glancing down the street, Ralph smirked as he saw Vanellope reappear and begin securing the fliers to a telephone pole.

Walking down the street, Ralph began using his own stapler to secure the fliers to telephone poles as he went. Turning the corner at the end of the street, he almost bumped into someone, causing Ralph to stop short as a few fliers flew from his hands.

"Whoa there!" the person, a tall blonde woman in a leather jacket said, holding up her hands in an attempt to stop Ralph from knocking her over.

"Geez, sorry, Emma," Ralph apologized as he grabbed a few of the loose fliers out of the air, "Didn't see you there."

"Don't worry about it, Ralph," Emma replied with an amused chuckle, before looking curiously at the fliers fluttering to the ground, "What've you got there?"

"Um…." Ralph replied, freezing in nervousness as he watched Emma stoop down and pick one up.

"Bad Guys Anonymous?" Emma questioned, her eyes narrowing in confusion as she read over the flier before turning her attention to Ralph, "What is this?"

"It's like it says on the flier," Ralph explained awkwardly, "It's a meeting….for bad guys."

"Ralph….you realize they already have their own little club, right?" Emma questioned, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"I….I know," Ralph replied, scratching the back of his head nervously, "But this is….this is different."

"How so?" Emma pressed.

"Well, you see….you saw my movie right?" Ralph questioned.

"Yeah," Emma answered with a nod of her head, trepidation creeping into her features.

"Well, you know that I went to the same thing there," Ralph continued, "With all the other bad guys from the arcade."

"So….you're setting up a support group….for bad guys?" Emma questioned.

"Yeah….I guess I am," Ralph answered.

"Look, I don't want to tell you what to do with your time, Ralph," Emma said with a sigh, "But are you sure this is a good idea?"

"...No, I'm not, and half of it is people keep doubting me on this idea," Ralph answered with a hint of annoyance.

"Well….look, maybe that should tell you something," Emma continued, "I mean….where are you even holding this thing?"

"The Ink and Paint Club," Ralph answered, his awkwardness leaving him.

"The Ink and….Jessica," Emma sighed in annoyance, "Look Ralph, I'm just not sure it's a good idea to gather all these….people in one place."

"What's it to you?" Ralph questioned, slowly growing more irritated.

"I'm the Sheriff remember?" Emma answered, "It's my job to worry about the public safety."

"The public safety?" Ralph asked incredulously, "This is a support group. What exactly do you think we'll be doing?"

"I….I don't know!" Emma replied defensively, "Look, Ralph….I'm just saying….these people…."

"What about these people?" Ralph pressed, his voice on edge.

"They're dangerous, Ralph," Emma insisted, "They….some of them have killed people."

"So have I," Ralph replied coldly.

"What?" Emma questioned in surprised confusion, "Ralph, what are you talking about?"

"In my game," Ralph elaborated, "I don't know how many times I've killed Felix over the years."

"Wha….Ralph that's….that's not the same," Emma tried to argue.

"Isn't it?" Ralph asked, glaring angrily at Emma, "These villains, these people….they didn't ask to be the bad guys, someone made them that way. Made them do the things they did. It's their job, just like it's mine. A job, I might add, none of us asked for."

"Ralph…." Emma tried to say, a sad look on her face.

"Look, I got to get the rest of these fliers put up, so I think I'm going to head out," Ralph stated as he turned away from Emma and began walking down the street, "Besides, I'm sure you're busy protecting the Magic Kingdom from the bad guys. Keep up the good work, Sheriff."

Emma stared at Ralph in speechless shock as he walked away before disappearing around a corner. Emma stood looking after Ralph for a few moments, a look of confusion and hurt on her face. Glancing down, Emma noticed the flier she still held in her hand. Holding it up, she read over again before a resolute expression crossed her face. Dropping the flier onto the ground, Emma turned on her heel and made her way down the street.

As she walked away and the flier fluttered to the ground, a large, toothy grin appeared in the air, along with cloud of purple smoke. Quickly, the smoke condensed into a purple and lavender cat with bright yellow eyes. Grinning broadly, he pinned the flier to the ground before reading it over.

"Well, well, well," the cat muttered to himself, "What do we have here?"

 _Later,_

Night had fallen over the Downtown area of the Magic Kingdom, the darkness kept at bay by the lights coming off of the buildings and streetlamps. While some of the businesses stood out with bright lights and eye catching displays, another was subdued and unassuming. Situated down a back alley, next to a loading dock for another building, was a common metal door. Above the door, there was a simple sign that read "The Ink and Paint Club."

Emma stomped up to the door and knocked hard on it, the pounding of her fist echoing into the room on the other side. After a moment, a panel in the door opened and a pair of dark brown eyes looked out.

"What's the….Oh," a deep voice said from behind the door as the eyes widened in surprise.

"Open the door, Kronk," Emma said, "I need to speak with Jessica."

"I, uh, I don't know who this Kronk you speak of is," the voice replied.

"Kronk, I know you work nights here," Emma stated with an exasperated sigh, "I don't care, now open the door!"

"Uh sure thing, Emma, I mean, boss, I mean, Sheriff!" the voice yelped before the panel slid shut and the door opened, allowing Emma to walk inside, briskly passing the burly man guarding the door and making her way down the hall beyond.

Walking down the hall, Emma came to a red curtain draped over a doorway and pushed her way through it. The room beyond was a stark contrast to what had come before it. The room was a large, tasteful club decorated in a Jazz Age, Art-Deco style, with white plaster walls. One wall was dominated by a large, white bar with racks of alcoholic beverages stacked behind it and a small army of bartenders manning it, including a cartoon octopus who was busy shaking drinks before handing them off to the waiting penguin waiters. The other wall was occupied by a large, raised stage, the center of which extended into the middle of the room, surrounded by dozens of small, circular tables covered in white tablecloths. A jazz band made up of cartoon crows dressed in tuxedos was playing a smooth melody on stage, the bass drum of their drum set reading "Jim and the Crows."

After a quick scan of the room, Emma spotted who she was looking for and made her way over to the bar. She quickly walked up to a pair at the bar, a middle-aged, pudgy man in a black suit and a similarly aged female bartender with curly brown hair. The man looked at Emma with surprise as she approached.

"Sheriff?" the man asked in confusion, "What are you doing here?"

"Am I not welcome here, Eddie?" Emma questioned as she stopped in front of him.

"No, I mean, you are, I just never see you here is all," the man, Eddie, explained.

"Not really my place," Emma stated, "I'm actually here to ask your girlfriend a question."

"Oh, um, sure," the bartender said in surprise, "What can I help you with Sheriff?"

"I need to talk to Jessica, Dolores," Emma explained, "Where is she?"

"I...uh…" Dolores mumbled nervously, glancing over Emma's shoulder.

"It's alright, Dolores," a voice said from behind Emma, "I'm always willing to talk to the clientele."

Turning around, Emma found a woman looking at her from her seat at a table nearby. She was a tall and stunningly beautiful woman with red hair that fell past her shoulders and draped over the left side of her face. She wore a red dress that left very little to the imagination and exposing most of her cream-colored skin. Sitting next to her was a short, white rabbit dressed in red overalls.

"Have a seat, won't you, Emma?" the woman requested, pushing an available chair away from the table with her foot, not looking at the blonde as she spoke.

Emma hesitated for a moment before walking over and sitting at the table, pulling the chair up before resting her crossed arms on the tabletop.

"Evening, Emma," the rabbit greeted with a friendly smile.

"Evening, Roger," Emma answered with a nod, her eye focused on the woman as she finished the martini she had been drinking, "Jessica."

"Can I help you with something, Emma?" the woman, Jessica, asked as she set her glass back down, not meeting Emma's gaze.

"I need to talk to you," Emma stated.

"What about?" Jessica questioned as she absentmindedly played with her glass.

"Ralph," Emma answered.

Jessica froze for a moment, remaining perfectly still before slowly raising her gaze to meet Emma's.

"Roger, can you be a dear and fetch me another drink?" Jessica asked, holding her glass out blindly to Roger, her eyes locked with Emma.

"Uh, sure thing, Jessica," Roger answered, taking the glass while glancing nervously between the two woman as he felt the tension in the air, "One martini, coming up."

"Take your time," Jessica stated as Roger got up and quickly retreated from the table.

The two women stared at each other for a few silent moments, Jessica slightly pushed back from the table with her legs crossed and her hands resting on her knee while Emma was pulled up close, leaning against the table like a predator ready to pounce.

"So, you wanted to talk about Ralph?" Jessica questioned.

"Yep," Emma answered simply.

"I don't really see how I can help you, Emma," Jessica replied, glancing down as she played with her fingernails, "Ralph is a personal friend, but I would presume the person who knows the most about Ralph is Ralph, so maybe you should be talking to him."

"Cut the crap, Jessica," Emma snapped, "You know what I'm actually here about."

"So, you've heard of Ralph's idea?" Jessica questioned, "I knew he was putting the fliers up today but I have to say that I didn't expect for you to show up this quickly."

"Wait, you knew I was going to come here?" Emma questioned in surprise.

"I've known you since I got here, Emma," Jessica replied, leveling her gaze at Emma, "I knew you'd be here the moment I agreed to let Ralph use the back room for his meetings."

"So, you're fine with this….Villains Anonymous?" Emma inquired.

"Bad Guys Anonymous, or Bad Anon for short," Jessica answered pointedly, though her features remained neutral, "If we're going to talk about it, we should talk about it right."

"Don't patronize me, Jessica," Emma said irritatedly.

"What exactly were you planning on doing here, Emma?" Jessica questioned, "Were you going to try and talk me out of this? I'm guessing you already tried to do that with Ralph."

"I just….I just don't understand," Emma admitted, "Why would you want….Don't you see the problem…."

"The problem of what? Having so many villains in one place?" Jessica asked, "You don't come to my club often, do you?"

Emma was about to answer before she realized the question had been rhetorical.

"Look around you, Sheriff," Jessica said as she gestured around the club, "Tell me what you see."

Frowning at Jessica, Emma began looking around, before surprise crossed her face. The club was largely full, but what caught Emma's attention was that most of the patrons were people she recognized as villains. Many were sitting and chatting together, enjoying the drinks the penguin waiters brought to them.

"You let all of them come here?" Emma questioned in surprise, "How long has this been going on?"

"Since I opened," Jessica answered.

"Why?" Emma asked, dumbfounded.

"Why not?" Jessica countered, "Where else would they go? Granny's? Tiana's Place? Fine establishments like those wouldn't want criminals or worse as their clientele, would they? So, they come here, because everyone is welcome at Ink and Paint Club."

"I don't get it, Jessica," Emma said in confusion, "You're a good guy."

"You really don't get it, do you?" Jessica asked rhetorically before leaning forward, "Let me give it to you straight then. There are no good or bad guys here in the Magic Kingdom, at least not based on what they did before they got here. Because they had no choice in that, you see. The writers of the story did. So, I figure, why punish them for crimes they didn't really commit in the first place?"

Emma sat in stunned silence for a moment, mulling over what Jessica had said.

"Basically, it's like I always say," Jessica continued, shrugging her shoulders as she leaned back and crossed her legs again, "We're not bad, we're just drawn that way."

Roger returned with Jessica's drink as Emma continued to think about Jessica's words.

"There you are, sweetheart," Roger said proudly as he handed Jessica the drink, "Just how you like it."

"Thank you, darling," Jessica said as she leaned down and kissed Roger on the head before turning her attention back to Emma, "Is there anything else you'd like to discuss, Sheriff?"

"No….I think that will be enough," Emma replied, shaking her head as she stood up from her seat.

"Well, it was wonderful chatting with you then," Jessica stated, "Hang around if you'd like. It looks like you might need a drink."

Emma nodded absentmindedly before wandering over to the bar and sitting on one of the stools.

"What will it be?" the octopus behind the bar asked.

"Um….nothing right now, thanks," Emma answered, earning a nod from the octopus before he walked away.

Emma fell into her thoughts again as the bartender left, thinking over what Jessica had told her. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't notice at first as someone sat down next to her.

"Penny for your thoughts, Swan?" a British-accented voice asked from her side.

Looking up, Emma found a man roughly her own age sitting next to her. He had a lean figure along with short black hair and stubble growing on his chin. He was dressed black clothes that looked like they belonged to a sailor from the eighteenth century and a small earring dangled from one ear. His most distinctive trait, however, was the iron hook he had in place of his left hand.

"Ugh, what do you want, Hook?" Emma questioned with an annoyed tone.

"You seemed a bit perturbed and I wanted to see if I could help," the man, Hook, explained, flashing a charming smile at her.

"Just a little lost in thought is all," Emma elaborated, "Thinking some things over."

"Well, I always find a good drink helps loosen up my thoughts," Hook stated, "Why don't I buy you one?"

"Look, Hook, I don't know what you're…." Emma began to say but paused as she noticed the earnest, friendly smile on his face. After a few more moments of consideration, Emma sighed and nodded, giving Hook a small nod.

"Sure, why not?" Emma stated with a chuckle.

"Excellent," Hook grinned before catching the bartender's attention, "Two of my usual, my eight-legged friend."

"Two rum and coke's coming up!" the octopus called back as he began making the drinks.

"Let me guess, Captain Morgan's?" Emma ventured, quirking an eyebrow at Hook.

"Bacardi, actually," Hook corrected, earning a laugh from Emma as the bartender slid them their drinks, the pirate quickly handing one to the sheriff, "Cheers."

"Cheers," Emma said with a grin before they both to a drink.

From her position at her table, Jessica smiled at the sight before taking a sip of her own drink. As she put it down, another person sat in the chair across from her. Looking up, Jessica's smile grew as she found Persephone seated before her, the goddesses eyes focused on Hook and Emma.

"Seph," Jessica greeted.

"Hey Jess, hey Rog," Seph said absentmindedly, watching the two at the bar for a few more moments before turning her attention towards Jessica, "What's she doing here?"

"She wanted to talk about the little idea you put in Ralph's head," Jessica explained, "I gave her some things to think about and I guess she decided to stick around and have a drink."

"With Hook?" Seph pressed with a grin.

"Evidently," Jessica stated.

"How long has he been barking up that tree?" Seph pondered.

"Since before either of us were here," Jessica answered.

"They're pretty cute together," Seph stated, "So, she wanted to talk to you about Bad Guys Anonymous?"

"She did," Jessica confirmed.

"You convinced her not to worry about it?" Seph asked.

"I convinced her to think about it," Jessica answered, "We'll see what she thinks in the long run. This does mean that word is getting out though."

Reaching under the table, Jessica pulled out a copy of the flier before sliding it across the table to Seph.

"That means you should probably try and get ahead of it, don't you think?" Jess questioned.

"Now's a good a time as ever," Seph agreed with a smile and a nod as she picked up the flier and stood from her chair, "Wish me luck?"

"Like you've ever needed it," Jessica replied with a playful smile before taking another sip of her drink as Seph giggled and ran off.

In another part of the club, a group of people sat around one of the larger tables near the stage. Eight chairs surrounded the table, though two were currently empty. Hades sat next to one of the empty chairs, accompanied by a diverse group of individuals.

One was a beautiful woman in her early middle-ages with jet black hair and even darker eyes. Next to her sat a slightly older, dangerously skinny woman, her hair white on one side and black on the other. Two men sat at the table as well, one of Arabian descent with a pointed black beard and dressed in regal black and crimson robes. The other was a middle aged man with brown hair and dressed in fine clothes, a walking stick leaning against the table to his side. It was the third woman, however who drew the most attention. A tall, rotund woman, she had purple and black skin with short, slicked-back, white hair. Her most noticeable feature however was that past her waist, instead of legs and feet, was a collection of octopus tentacles.

"Where'd your wife run off too, Hades?" the white and black haired woman questioned as she sipped on the drink in her hand.

"Not sure, Cruella" Hades replied, glancing over in the direction she had gone when she left, "But here she comes now."

"Speaking of missing persons, what happened to Hook?" the black haired woman inquired.

"He went to grab a drink at the bar, Regina," Seph explained as she sat down in the empty seat next to Hades.

Looking over at the bar, the Arabian man sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Mercy," he groused, "He's chatting up the Sheriff again."

"Emma's here?" Regina questioned in surprise as he followed the man's gaze.

"Evidently," the other man said with a chuckle as he looked over his shoulder at the bar as well, "That man does not know when to give up."

"Look who's talking, Gold," the octopus woman laughed as the man turned back and shot a glare at her.

Hades chuckled at the interaction before noticing the flier that Seph had laid facedown on the table in front of her.

"What you got there, sweet thing?" Hades questioned.

"Oh this?" Seph questioned with faux innocence as she shrugged, "Nothing."

Quirking an eyebrow at his wife, Hades picked the flier up off the table before lifting it up so he could read it. After scanning his eyes over the document, Hades groaned.

"Is this what you and Ralph were talking about the other night?" Hades asked, earning a smile and a nod from Seph, "Oh, good grief."

"What?" the octopus woman questioned, "What is it?"

"You're not going to like it, Ursula," Hades said wearily as he held the flier out for her to take.

Reaching across the table with one of her tentacles, Ursula grabbed the flier before bringing it over to her, transferring it to her hands as she read.

"Bad Guys Anonymous?" Ursula questioned, a look of disgust on her face.

"Bad Guys what?" Cruella asked in confusion.

"Who's idea was this?" Ursula inquired.

"Wreck-It Ralph's," Hades answered.

"Wreck-It….Let me see that," the Arabian man said as he snatched the flier away from Ursula, and quickly read the flier over before rolling his eyes, "Of all the-"

"Okay, this is getting stupid," Regina declared in frustration, "What does the damn flier say, Jafar?"

"It's an open invitation to the first meeting of Bad Guys Anonymous here at the Club this Tuesday night," Jafar explained, reading the details from the flier.

"What, exactly, is Bad Guys Anonymous?" Gold questioned, leaning an elbow on the table as he spoke.

"It's a support group," Seph spoke up, a hopeful smile on her face as all eyes fell on her.

"A support group for what?" Cruella questioned, arching a delicate eyebrow.

"Bad guys," Seph explained with a shrug, "Villains. You know….you guys."

There was a silent moment as the others stared at Seph.

"Exactly what do we need support for?" Jafar inquired.

"For all the stuff you go through," Seph answered, her smile diminishing, "Being looked down upon and ostracized for basically just doing your job. Jobs you didn't even choose. Didn't any of you watch Ralph's movie?"

The deafening silence that followed answered Seph's question.

"This seems like exactly the type of plan your wife would come up with, Hades," Gold commented.

"Tell me about it," Hades groused, before shying away from Seph as she shot him a withering glare.

"It's a nice gesture, honey, but this is all the support I need," Ursula stated before she drained what remained of her drink from its glass.

"I don't think that's emotionally or physically healthy, Ursula," Seph pointed out.

"Yeah, but it tastes great," Ursula replied with a chuckle.

"But really Seph, how many people do you think are going to show up for this?" Regina questioned.

"Especially when Maleficent catches wind of it," Jafar added.

"She's not going to like it, I can tell you that much," Cruella stated.

"Not that she likes much of anything," Gold said with a snort.

"Well, I know one person who's going," Seph said resolutely, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Oh?" Hades asked with a chuckle, "And who's that?"

Seph merely turned her gaze towards Hades. After a few moments, Hades' smile dropped as realization struck him.

"Oh no," Hades began to argue, "Oh no, no, no."

"You have to go," Seph pleaded, clasping her hands in front of her, "Ralph's your friend, and I think it could be really good for you."

"Okay, one, Ralph is more of an acquaintance," Hades replied, holding up his fingers as he counted, "And two, I am perfectly fine, not a care in the world."

Seph's eyes narrowed at Hades, before her expression began excited as she looked past him.

"Oh hey, is that Hercules!?" Seph said with an ecstatic voice.

"WHAT!?" Hades bellowed as he spun around, his flaming hair and skin turning an angry shade of red, burning twice as hot as they had been a moment before. However, all Hades found behind him was the gaping stares of the other club patrons, the music from the band grinding to a halt. Realizing what had happened, Hades slowly relaxed, turning back to blue as rage was replaced by awkwardness on his features. Slowly, Hades turned around, finding Seph smirking triumphantly at him with her arms crossed. Calmly, Hades clasped his hands together and rested them on his lap, his expression changing to one of calm serenity.

"This proves nothing," Hades declared quietly as the band began to play again.

"Mhm," Seph hummed, unconvinced, "You're going."

"I'm not," Hades argued, "There's nothing you can do to-"

"Please, Nightlight?" Seph begged, clasping her hands together again as she stuck her bottom lip out and looked at him with wide, watery eyes, "For me?"

Hades was silent for a few moments, watching his wife as she leaned in closer, her bottom lip starting to tremble.

"Fine!" Hades declared in frustration, "Fine, I'll go to the stupid meeting. Now stop looking at me like that!"

"Yay!" Seph shouted happily as she wrapped her arms around her husband, "I knew I could convince you! As a reward, I'm going to get you your favorite drink! Love you!"

"Love you too," Hades grumbled as Seph skipped away from the table. Turning back to the table, he found his friends all grinning at him. Raising her hand, Ursula made a quick swinging motion with a closed fist while mimicking the sound of a cracking whip with her mouth.

"Oh shut it," Hades growled as he glared at his friends.

"You'll have to tell us what this meeting was like," Cruella stated with a chuckle, "I want to hear all the details."

"I can do you one better," Hades replied, grinning, "You all can come with me, figure out what all this is about together. What do you say?"

There was a pause as the villains silently glanced at one another. Then, all at once, they all began to stand from their seats, offering excuses for turning in for the night. Hades watched them all go, glaring at them as they left before throwing his hands into the air in frustration.

"You guys suck!" Hades declared as his friends abandoned him, before leaning his elbow on the table and resting his chin on his hand, angrily pouting at everyone and everything.

A/N: This chapter was a blast to write. Getting to do all the character interactions was loads of fun, especially with all the villains. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did! As always feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	3. Racing Hearts

**Chapter 2: Racing Heart**

Afternoon had fallen across the Magic Kingdom and, just as it always was, Flynn's Arcade was packed with children of all ages, each of them eager to play the video games that had been set up around the large room dimly lit by the flashing lights and console screens, the sounds of electronic beeps and boops filling the air.

Making her way through the crowd of children and teenagers was a girl who looked no older than ten, dressed in a lavender t-shirt and cream colored capris. She had chestnut brown hair hair and wide blue eyes that she used to look around the arcade, smiling as she spotted the game she was looking for.

The girl walked up to one of the larger consoles in the arcade, which looked like two consoles fused together, each with a fake driver's seat in front of it, complete with wheels and pedals. The console was colored with pinks and light blues and the name "Sugar Rush" was written across it in a large, cartoony font, along with the subtitle of "Now with special guest racers!".

Sitting down in one of the chairs, the girl pulled a quarter out of her pocket and placed it into the machine, causing it to spring to life.

"Select your racer!" a excited voice declared over the console's sound system as a grid containing at least a dozen headshots appeared on screen. Using the wheel, the girl was able to move between the headshots, which caused an image of the character to appear to the side of the grid. Each of them were children roughly the girl's age, each wearing an outfit with a clear candy theme too it. Eventually, she came to a picture of Vanellope and the girl popped on screen. Vanellope blinked in surprise before smiling and waving.

"Hey Sofia!" Vanellope greeted, her voice carried through the game's sound system, "Didn't expect to see you in here!"

"I wanted to see you at work," the girl, Sofia, replied with a laugh, "You want to race?"

"You know it!" Vanellope replied, excitedly.

"Who are these special guests you guys got?" Sofia questioned.

"Lightning McQueen stopped by to do a couple of races, he's always trying to beat me," Vanellope explained with a chuckle before her smile turned awkward, "Turbo's also racing today too."

"Turbo?" Sofia asked in surprise before leaning closer to the screen and whispering conspiratorially, "Isn't he a bad guy?"

"Yeah, I guess," Vanellope shrugged, "But he's still a good racer and he's trying to be nicer overall. I mean, Ralph pointed out if I did the same thing to him that he did to me, I wouldn't be any better than he was, right?"

"I guess," Sofia agreed, a thoughtful look on her face which was quickly replaced by a broad smile, "Can I race as you?"

"Of course!" Vanellope replied happily, "That's what I'm here for!"

"Alright, let's do it!" Sofia declared with excitement as she pushed the gas pedal to select Vanellope as her character, causing the game to cut away from the screen.

After exiting from the character selection menu, the console cut to a camera angle behind Vanellope as she sat in her go-kart, a colorful vehicle that appeared to be made out of candy and frosting, sitting at the starting line to the race, a stoplight held suspended before her by a floating marshmallow. Multiple grandstands were set up on the side of the track, each seating dozens of candy people of various shapes and sizes. Vanellope was surrounded by other similarly made go-karts, driven by the children that Sofia had seen on the character select screen along with two racers stood out from the others.

One racer was apparently a living race car, the windshield replaced with bright, blue eyes and a smiling mouth in its bumper. The racecar was painted brightly red and decorated with a number of decals, the most prominent of which was the number ninety-five written red over a lightning bolt.

The other appeared to be older than most of the racers, dressed in a white racing suit with matching helmet on his disproportionately large head. His skin was sickly pale and his eyes were bright yellow, the his most striking feature was his complete lack of a nose. He sat in what looked like a go-kart mixed with an old fashioned racecar, painted white with a red stripe down the side.

As the camera settled behind Vanellope, all the racers began revving their engines before a countdown started flashing on screen. As the numbers counted down, Vanellope turned to look over her shoulder before smiling and giving a thumbs up to the camera. Sofia giggled in reply as Vanellope turned forward again before gripping the steering wheel in front of her tightly, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth in a look of determination.

As soon as the countdown finished flashing across the screen and the stoplight turned green, Sofia slammed her foot down on the accelerator, sending Vanellope rocketing forward along with the other racers, kicking up coco dust as they went while the bombastic announcer declared the race had begun. As they raced down the speedway, the pack began to separate, with Vanellope becoming one of the four racers fighting over first place.

As the path led them into a canyon that the announcer declared to be Gumball Gorge, Sofia spotted what looked to be sugar cubes with designs drawn on their sides that appeared to be floating just above the ground ahead of them. Watching the race car in front of them, she saw him plow through one of the cubes, which broke apart in a shower of sugar as the announcer screamed "Sweet Seekers!"

"Man, I hate this part," the race car grumbled as the bits of sugar began to swarm around him before they condensed into what looked like a rocket launcher on his hood.

"Alright, let's do this!" the race car declared, though Sofia noticed that his voice was much more nasally than it had been before. A second later, a brightly colored rocket shot out of the launcher and went streaking through the air, a sparkling stream trailing behind it like a firework. Suddenly, the rocket swerved and seemed to home in on the yellow-eyed racer, streaking forward and slamming into his kart, exploding in a shower of colorful sparks and launching him into air, allowing the race car to zoom past him.

Seeing this, Sofia directed Vanellope towards one of the sugar cubes, which also exploded as the go-kart plowed through it. Sofia heard the announcer scream "Cherry Bomb!" as the bits of sugar formed what resembled a mortar cannon on the front of Vanellope's cart.

"Awesome!" Vanellope declared over the speakers, "Sofia, press the little button next to the steering wheel!"

Glancing down at the console, Sofia quickly found the button and pressed it, which caused the mortar on the front of Vanellope's car to launch what looked like a large, black cherry into the air, a thin trail of smoke rising from its burning stem. The cherry flew up and over the racers in front of Vanellope, landing with a plop on the track. The cherry sat there for a few moments, it's stem burning down, before exploding into a cloud of black smoke and cherry red fire as the racers approached it. The force of the blast sent the race car spinning to the side, allowing Vanellope and another racer, a girl with short, platinum blonde hair dressed in a pink racing suit, to speed past him.

As they drove, Vanellope stood up and reached into the mortar, relying on Sofia to steer the kart around the giant gunballs that rolled back and forth through the canyon. Pulling out another one of the cherry bombs, which automatically lit itself as it left the mortar, Vanellope turned towards the rear of the kart.

"Did you like that, McQueen!?" Vanellope questioned as she held the cherry bomb above her head, "How about another one!?"

With that, she tossed the cherry bomb behind the kart, the explosive bouncing and rolling down the road before stopping near where the race car was recovering, it's stem quickly burning down.

"Oh, come on!" McQueen groaned as the cherry bomb exploded, sending him flying through the air again.

"Nice driving!" Vanellope called to Sofia as she got back into the driver's seat just as they reached an area of the track called Cakeway, the rocky nature of the canyon giving way to a snaking path that led up a mountain that resembled an ice cream sunday, coated with what looked like whipped cream.

Zooming up the mountain, Vanellope and Sofia were quickly gaining ground on the blonde in front of them. As they approached the cherry-topped peak though, the road grew steeper and more slick with whipped cream while the turn grew tighter and tighter. Suddenly, the turn became too tight for Sofia to handle and she lost her grip on the wheel, causing Vanellope to slam into the guardrail on the side of the road.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay!?" Sofia gasped.

"I'm fine!" Vanellope called back, "Just keep going!"

Nodding, Sofia pressed hard on the pedal and Vanellope took off once more. As Vanellope picked up speed, the racer in the white kart sped past her, shouting "Turbotastic" as he went. Narrowing her eyes, Vanellope gripped the steering wheel tightly as Sofia pressed the gas pedal harder and they took off after the other two racers.

Reaching the peak of the cake-mountain, Sofia gasped in surprise to find the raceway ended abruptly, the momentum of the kart launching them into the air. Soaring above the valley beneath, the kart landed on top of a cliff across from the mountain where the raceway continued.

As they began catching up with the other racers, Vanellope saw that they were approaching a tunnel carved out of the ice and a thought came to her.

"Drive towards the wall!" Vanellope called to Sofia.

"What!?" Sofia questioned in surprised confusion.

"Just trust me!" Vanellope argued.

A worried look on her face, Sofia turned the wheel so that the go-kart veered towards the smooth walls of the cave. After bumping against the wall, the kart suddenly tilted and began to run along the wall.

"Floor it!" Vanellope shouted, prompting Sofia to slam her foot against the accelerator, pushing it down as far as it would go. The kart's engine roared as Vanellope continued to veer towards the wall, the speed that the vehicle was moving at allowing it to start riding up the slick ice. Speeding along the wall, Sofia continued to veer the kart to the side, causing it to climb higher and higher. Eventually, the curve of the wall sent them driving briefly along the ceiling just as they caught up with the racer in the white kart. Looking up, the racer stared up at Vanellope in astonishment as she drove above him, the young girl winking at him as she passed. The momentum carried Vanellope across the kart and down the other wall before slingshotting them forward past the other racer.

Speeding out of the tunnel, Sofia could see that they were entering the home stretch of the race with only the blonde racer in front of them. As she continued to push the kart to its limit, Vanellope could see the finish line rapidly approaching, too fast for her to be able to pass the other racer. A final idea came to Vanellope as she looked back to the camera.

"Tap the breaks three times while holding the accelerator down!" Vanellope shouted.

"What?" Sofia asked in confusion, "Why?"

"Just do it!" Vanellope shouted back.

Nodding her head, Sofia quickly tapped the breaks three times while keeping her other foot on the accelerator. The reaction was immediate as Vanellope and her kart suddenly dissolved into a cloud of bright blue pixels. As Sofia watched in wonder, the cloud swarmed around the blonde racer in front of them, the girl letting out an angry and surprised shout. In a flash, the pixels had reformed into Vanellope and her go-kart on the other side of the blonde racer, the kart shooting forward as its wheels dug back into the ground.

Seconds later, the kart shot across the finish line in first place, the blonde racer hot on their heels. It was at that point Vanellope was allowed to retake control of the kart and she slammed her foot on the brakes, causing the kart to skid to a stop. Letting out a whoop of joy, Vanellope hopped up onto her seat and thrust her hands into the air, cheering as she turned to face the camera.

"We did it!" Vanellope declared as Sofia celebrated in her seat, "We won!"

"You cheated!" a shrill voice shrieked, catching Vanellope and Sofia off guard. Turning towards the source of the voice, Vanellope saw the blonde racer hopping out of her kart and stomping towards the young girl.

"What are you talking about, Taffyta?" Vanellope questioned in surprised confusion.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" the girl, Taffyta, growled as she stopped next to Vanellope's kart and pointed an accusatory finger at the girl, "You cheated to win the race!"

"Again, what are you talking about?" Vanellope inquired as she hopped down from her kart.

"You glitched in front of me!" Taffyta growled in reply as a crowd of the other racers began to gather around them.

"So?" Vanellope questioned, still not getting Taffyta's point, "I've glitched in front of you a hundreds of times before and you've never complained!"

"Only because I held my tongue before but this is the last straw!" Taffyta shot back before pointing towards the camera, "You told her how to activate your glitch!"

"She's my friend, of course I told her!" Vanellope spat as she waved her hand at the camera as well, growing more irritated by the second.

"So, it's okay to cheat when it helps your friends!?" Taffyta scoffed as she rolled her eyes, "What a surprise coming from President Vanellope!"

"What the bits is that supposed to mean!?" Vanellope demanded heatedly.

"It mean's that ever since you started running the show around here, all you've cared about is helping yourself and your friends!" Taffyta elaborated angrily, "You use that little glitch of yours to win races and run off with your little friends whenever you want. You don't even care about the place that you're supposed to be ruling!"

"Of course I care!" Vanellope shouted back.

"Oh, you do!?" Taffyta snapped, before pointing at Turbo, who was standing with the other racers a short distance from the arguing girls, "Then maybe you can explain to me what he's doing here!?"

"Wait, what?" Turbo questioned in surprise as everyone's attentions turned towards him.

"What about him?" Vanellope questioned heatedly as she gestured at Turbo as well, "Why do you care that he's here?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it's because he's an insane dictator who stole all our memories!?" Taffyta countered.

"He-He's not a bad guy," Vanellope replied, though her voice uncertain.

"That's exactly what he is, Vanellope!" Taffyta screeched, "He's a bad guy! You, out of anyone here, you should know the most about that!"

"You're right," Vanellope stated coolly, narrowing her eyes at Taffyta, "I do know a thing or two about bad guys."

"Sorry, I forgot you got adopted by one," Taffyta spat sarcastically, causing Vanellope's eyes to go wide with surprise.

"He….Ralph's not my dad!" Vanellope sputtered, caught off guard by Taffyta's comment.

"Oh, please," Taffyta replied with a role of her eyes, smiling as she saw Vanellope's reaction, her voice practically dripping with venom, "I see how you throw yourself at him, begging for the attention no one ever gave to you. It's pathetic."

The outlookers in the crowd began nervously glancing at Vanellope as the girl stiffened, occasionally blue pixels sparking off of her.

"Just think, all you need to find is some ugly bimbo to marry him, and you'll have the happy little fake family you dreamed of back when you were living in some hole in the wall," Taffyta continued, ignorant of the grinding sound coming from Vanellope's clenched teeth, "But really, what sort of loser would ever want to be with someone like that?"

"I don't even know why I'm complaining," Taffyta sighed dramatically before she grinned maliciously at Vanellope, "After all, things were better when he was in charge and you were nothing but a g-g-glitch."

The gathered group of races let out soft gasps at Taffyta's words while Sofia covered her mouth in shock, unable to do anything but watch from her seat at the video game console. Vanellope, for her part, went stock still, her hands clenching into shaking fists and angry tears filling her eyes as Taffyta continued to smile mockingly at her.

Then, with shocking abruptness, Vanellope let out a hateful shriek and leapt at Taffyta, her edges blurring with blue pixels as she moved towards the other girl, who let out a hateful snarl of her own. Before either of them could reach each other though, a loud horn blared as McQueen came roaring towards them. Both girls quickly hopped away from each other as the race car skidded to a halt between them.

"Alright, that's enough!" McQueen shouted as the dust settled around him, his narrowed eyes darting between the two girls.

"What was that for!?" Vanellope demanded as she glared at McQueen.

"That was to keep this from getting any uglier than it already has," McQueen replied sternly.

"Good, you wouldn't want to have seen what I was about to do to your ugly face anyway!" Taffyta spat.

"That's enough out of you!" McQueen snapped as he turned his attention towards Taffyta.

"Hey, who do you-" Taffyta began to argue before she was cut off by McQueen angrily revving his engine.

"I mean it," McQueen snarled, "Shut your mouth and get lost."

Taffyta looked at McQueen warily, put off by the look he was giving her that dared her to try and challenge him. After a moment, Taffyta collected herself and shot McQueen a sneer.

"Whatever," Taffyta replied haughtily, "I've got better things to do than hang around these losers anyway."

With that, Taffyta shot Vanellope a final smirk before hopping into her kart, turning it on a speeding away. Sensing that the show had come to an end, the other racers began drifting away, many shooting looks of one kind or another towards Vanellope. McQueen watched Taffyta leave for a moment before turning his attention back to Vanellope.

"You okay?" McQueen questioned, his tone turning sympathetic.

"I didn't need your help," Vanellope replied curtly as she swiped quickly at her watery eyes, "I could have taken her."

"I'm sure you could have," McQueen agreed, "But you know that's not what I'm asking."

"What do you care?" Vanellope snapped, glaring at McQueen.

"I care because I'm your friend, Vanellope," McQueen answered with a sigh before he glanced up at the camera still hovering overhead, "And I'm not the only one."

Following McQueen's gaze, Vanellope's face went pale as she looked at the camera and realized that Sofia had seen everything.

"Look kid, why don't you take a drive or something?" McQueen suggested quietly, "Maybe get some fresh air and clear your head? Maybe bring your friend along too?"

"Yeah, I….I'm just going to go," Vanellope agreed, nodding numbly before turning from the camera and walking over to her kart. As she reached her kart, she noticed Turbo hesitantly approaching her from out of the corner of her eye.

"What?" Vanellope asked coldly, turning to look at Turbo with narrowed eyes, "What the bits do you want?"

"I just….I wanted to…." Turbo mumbled, trying to find the words for what he wanted to say.

"You know what?" Vanellope snapped, cutting Turbo off before he could continue, "Save it. I don't want to hear it."

"Vanellope-" Turbo tried to speak again but the girl silenced him with an angry glare.

"Shut up!" Vanellope snarled, angry tears forming in her eyes again, "I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to be near you, I don't to have anything to do with you! Taffyta's right, I should never have let you back in here. I should have never listened to Ralph! You stole my life and tried to kill me! I don't want you to show you ugly face around here ever again!"

Before Turbo could say anything in reply, Vanellope turned on her kart and gunned the engine, the vehicle shooting away in a shower of chocolate grit. Turbo shut his eyes and held his hands up in front of his face to shield it from the cocoa dust and by the time he had blinked his eyes clear, he was standing alone on the racetrack. Sighing, Turbo spared a glance at the finish line before making his way over to his kart and leaving.

 _Meanwhile_ ,

Ralph walked alone down the alley that led to the Ink and Paint Club, a shopping back in one hand and a pad of paper in the other. As he walked, Ralph's eyes were focused on the pad, which he held up so that he could read the words scrawled across the pages.

"Man," Ralph sighed as he flicked the pad closed, "I'm starting to wish I had taken notes during Clyde's meetings when I had the chance."

Reaching the entrance, Ralph paused as he looked at the metal door leading inside.

The door was covered in flyers, each done in eye catching colors. Among those advertising new drink specials or the club's weekly karaoke night was one proclaiming that tonight was the first meeting of Bad Guys Anonymous, with Ralph's name posted clearly right under it.

"Man, what did I get myself into?" Ralph questioned with a sigh, uncertainty scrawled across his features. Sighing, Ralph reached out and pulled on the door's handle.

The door did not budge.

Surprised, Ralph pulled on the door again, but it refused to open, clearly locked.

"Uh oh," Ralph said to himself before leaning down and gently knocking on the door, the sound of his knuckles rapping against the metal door echoing loudly into the room beyond.

"Hello?" Ralph called through the door, "Is anyone there?"

Silence was the only reply Ralph received.

"Fantastic," Ralph grumbled to himself, running one of his large hands over his face and through his hair as he pondered his next move.

"Excuse me?" a voice called from down the alley, "Can I help you?"

Looking back the way he had come, Ralph found a female, anthropomorphic rabbit standing at the end of the alley, giving him a cautious and questioning look. She was tall, slim, and strikingly pretty, dressed in a pair of purple short shorts that showed off her long, athletically muscled legs, and a matching zip-up sweatshirt. She wore the sweatshirt unzipped, revealing the yellow tank top underneath that came to just above her toned stomach. Her fur was a mixture of light brown and cream and Ralph noticed her long ears were actually pulled back and held together with a hair elastic while a small tuft of blonde hair covered her head. She adjusted the duffle bag slung over her shoulder before she began walking down the alley towards Ralph on bare feet.

"I said, can I help you?" the rabbit asked again, more pointedly this time, and Ralph's face flushed as he realized he had been staring.

"Oh! Um….I was just trying to get it," Ralph quickly answered, "I have a, uh, a thing today and, well….the door's locked."

"It usually is," the rabbit replied neutrally and Ralph felt she was trying to puzzle him out, "You said you had a 'thing'?"

"Yeah, um," Ralph paused as he looked over at the door before reaching over to it and pulling the flyer advertising Bad Guy Anon off of it and handing it to the rabbit, "Here."

The rabbit took the offered flyer and began reading it over, a small smirk forming on her face.

"That's me," Ralph added, reaching over and indicating to his name with one of his large fingers, "Wreck-It Ralph."

"Oh, right!" the rabbit exclaimed, realization crossing her features as she looked back at Ralph, "You had that movie about a year ago, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," Ralph replied with a chuckle as the tension in his chest started to ease, "I don't think I've seen you around before."

"You haven't, I've been out of town," the rabbit confirmed as she handed the flier back to Ralph and offering her hand for him to shake, "Lola Bunny."

"Lola, huh?" Ralph questioned with an amused chuckle.

"Well, my mother was a showgirl," Lola replied with a shrug and a chuckle of her own.

"Your mother?" Ralph asked, his brain picking up something about Lola that he couldn't quite put his finger on, "You said you've been out of town. Did you mean…."

"Outside the Magic Kingdom?" Lola supplied, "Yes, I did. I live with my husband at the Warner Brother lot."

"Your husband?" Ralph questioned.

"Bugs Bunny," Lola answered with a smirk, "You may have heard of him."

"You're married to Bugs Bunny!?" Ralph replied in surprise, his eyes going wide at the news.

"I'll take that as a yes," Lola stated with a laugh.

"If you're from the Warner Brothers lot, what are you doing here then?" Ralph asked in confusion.

"This is my hometown," Lola answered, "I'm visiting my parents."

"Your….parents?" Ralph asked, his mind slowly putting together all the facts.

"If it helps, my maiden name is Rabbit," Lola stated with an amused smile and a roll of her eyes.

With that, everything clicked for Ralph.

"Holy bits, you're Jessica and Roger's daughter!" Ralph exclaimed in shock.

"Got it in one," Lola replied, snapping her fingers and pointing at Ralph with one hand.

"I, uh, wha….I didn't…." Ralph mumbled, trying to collect his thoughts back into some semblance of organization.

"You didn't know they had a kid?" Lola provided helpfully.

"I didn't even know people around here could have kids," Ralph corrected, "At least not ones that weren't created for them."

"Oh yeah, of course they can!" Lola replied with a laugh, "In fact, most couples around here have kids the old fashioned way instead of having them given to them by the creators."

"Wow," Ralph said, blinking a few times as he processed the new information, "I had no idea."

"Well, while you mull that over," Lola said as she reached into her duffel bag and fished out a small ring of keys, "How about I let us in?"

Ralph chuckled in reply and stepped aside, allowing Lola to walk up to the door and unlock it.

"So, this Bad Guys Anonymous thing, it's like what you had in the movie, right?" Lola questioned as she pushed the door open and allowed Ralph to enter behind her.

"That's the idea," Ralph answered with a nervous sigh as he stepped into the hall, "I'm probably going to mess it up though."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Lola reassured him as she closed the door behind them, "My mom trusts you enough to let you use the back room, and that's not nothing."

"Thanks," Ralph replied, stepping aside to let Lola pass and lead the way.

"So, twenty bucks says my dad was supposed to give you a key and forgot," Lola said as she led Ralph down the hall towards the entrance to the club's main room.

"Deal," Ralph replied with a chuckle as they stepped through the doorway at the end of the hall. Glancing around as he entered, Ralph could see the staff were preparing for when the club opened in a few short hours, with the bartenders cleaning the bar, the waiters setting up the tables and the band tuning their instruments on stage. Jessica stood at the center of the room giving the occasional order to her staff, Roger standing at her side observing the proceedings.

Glancing over in their direction as they enter, Jessica's face lit up with joy at the sight of Lola.

"Lola!" Jessica called as she began walking quickly over to her daughter, "My beautiful baby! Come, give your mother a hug!"

Grinning, Lola dropped her duffel bag to the floor before walking over to her mother and embracing her as they met.

"My sweet baby girl!" Roger exclaimed as he came running over, "It's so good to see you, Lola!"

"It's good to see you too, Daddy," Lola giggled, kneeling down so she could give her shorter father a hug and a kiss on his forehead.

"Was your trip alright?" Jessica asked with a motherly tone that Ralph had never heard before from her.

"Yeah, it went fine," Lola replied as she stood back up and nodded her head back in Ralph's direction, "I even made a friend."

Looking in the direction Lola had indicated, Jessica blinked in surprise as she saw Ralph before smiling.

"Ralph," Jessica greeted, placing her hand against her forehead as she began walking over to him, "I'm sorry. I completely forgot that tonight was the first meeting."

"It's alright, I only just got here," Ralph stated with a shrug, "Lola let me in."

"Let you in?" Jessica asked in confusion before turning her attention towards Roger, "Roger, didn't you give Ralph that spare key?"

"Spare key?" Roger replied in confusion, "What spare key?"

"Maybe the one that's sticking out of your pocket, Dad?" Lola observed as she reached down and pulled on a lanyard hanging from his pocket, revealing a key hanging from its end.

"Oh….oops," Roger replied, looking embarrassed as he played with his fingers, prompting Jessica to roll her eyes.

"Looks like you owe me twenty bucks," Lola said as she tossed Ralph the key.

"Guess you do," Ralph replied with a snort as he caught the key and pushed it into one of his pockets.

"Come on, Ralph," Jessica said, motioning for the wrecker to follow her as she began walking away, "I'll show you the back room and then we can get some of the staff to help you get set up. Roger, why don't you go help Lola get settled?"

"Sure thing, sweetheart!" Roger replied as he began walking in the opposite direction.

"See you around, Ralph!" Lola called as she left, scooping her duffel bag up off the ground as she went, "Good luck with your meeting."

"Thanks!" Ralph replied before sighing as he felt the anxiety twisting in his chest again, "I'm gonna need it."

A/N: Been awhile since I got a chance to update this one. Was a lot of fun to write though. Feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	4. Opening Up

**Chapter 3: Opening Up**

"What am I doing here?" Ralph sighed for what must have been the upteenth time that day. Sitting in one of the metal folding chairs that had been set up in a small circle at the center of the room, he glanced around at his surroundings.

The back room of the Ink and Paint Club seemed to be a sort of storage overflow room, taking in what was rarely used and couldn't fit into the more dedicated storage rooms. The few boxes and crates that called the room home had been pushed into one of the corners to make space for the chairs and a cheap, folding table had been placed against one of the walls, a small collection of snacks laid out on its surface.

Having taken in his surroundings for the tenth time in five minutes, Ralph turned his attention back to himself, picking a bit of lint off of his overalls with one hand while nervously drumming his fingers on his chest with the other one. Every second seemed to last an eternity as Ralph sat alone in the room and for the first time he wished he had a watch so he could actually know what time it was.

Just as Ralph was about to reach his breaking point and call the whole thing off, he heard the sounds of someone approaching the room from down the hall. Sitting up in his chair, Ralph watched the door intently before he saw the shadow of someone standing on the other side through the space under the door. There was a long pause as the person on the other side simply stood there, as if considering their options. Then, with a dramatic sigh, the door was pushed open and Hades stepped into the room.

There was a an awkward, quiet pause as the two regarded each other from across the room, Hades' narrowed, yellow eyes meeting Ralph's wide, brown ones as the god drummed his fingers on the door, his extended arm keeping it propped open. After what seemed like another eternity, Hades stepped forward and let the door swing close behind him.

"Ralph," Hades greeted neutrally, his eyes scanning the room around him.

"Oh, uh, hey Hades," Ralph replied in a nervous, friendly manner, jumping to his feet so quickly that his chair almost toppled over behind him, "Th-Thanks for coming."

"It's not like I had a choice," Hades grumbled as he walked over to the snack table, "After all, it was my wife that planted this stupid idea in your thick skull, so unless I want to sleep on the couch for the rest of eternity, I had to be here."

"Oh," Ralph replied, his shoulders slumping slightly, "Well….thanks all the same, I guess."

"Don't mention it," Hades stated as he picked up a cookie and popped it into his mouth, "But I'll tell you right now, if this turns into some sort of intervention, I'm burning this building to the ground. Understand?"

"Um….okay?" Ralph replied, taken aback slightly by Hades' threat.

"Good," Hades stated before walking over to the chair directly across from Ralph and sat down, prompting Ralph to do the same.

"So," Hades said after a quiet moment, "How does this work?"

"Well, I was going to wait a little before getting started," Ralph replied.

"Hate to break it to you, Ralph," Hades stated as he quirked an eyebrow at the wrecker, "But I know a lot of villains around here and I feel pretty confident in saying that no one else is showing up."

As Hades finished speaking, a knock came from the door before it opened just enough to allow Turbo to stick his head in. Turbo's yellow eyes were wide as they flitted back and forth between Hades and Ralph, who were both looking at him in surprise.

"Um," Turbo said to break the silence, pausing to clear his throat before continuing, "I'm guessing I made it in time for the meeting?"

"Uh….yeah!" Ralph replied, breaking out of his surprise and smiling at Turbo, "Come on in, Turbo. Grab a seat wherever you'd like. We've got snacks and refreshments over on the table too."

"Great," Turbo replied, grabbing a cookie off the table before grabbing a chair.

"I have to say, I'm surprised you came, Turbo," Ralph commented as the smaller villain pulled himself up into the chair.

"Well, I mean, we're from the same movie, got to stick together, right?" Turbo replied with a nervous laugh that caught both Ralph and Hades' attentions.

"Right," Ralph agreed, shooting a glance at Hades, who merely shrugged in reply.

"Also, I was worried that you'd be here all by yourself if I didn't come, but I guess I was wrong," Turbo continued as he turned his attention towards Hades and sneered, "So, I guess what I heard about your wife strong arming you into coming was true."

"Keep talking, short stuff," Hades growled at Turbo, his eyes narrowing as he leaned closer to the racer, the flames on his head growing larger, "See what happens."

"Oh, I think I might like seeing that," Turbo replied as his form began to glitch and shift with red pixels.

"Guys, guys, come on," Ralph pleaded, holding his hands up in a placating gesture, "We're in the backroom of a bar. There's no need for posturing."

Both Hades and Turbo glanced at Ralph before slowly leaning away from one another, still glaring even as the effects of their powers dissipated.

"Thank you," Ralph said with a smirk, "Now, I'm guessing that this will be all we're getting for our first meeting, so-"

Before Ralph could finish, the door swung open for a third time and a man swept dramatically into the room. He was a tall, slim man with black, slicked back hair and a pale complexion. We wore a black and gold tunic with black pants under long green and gold coat that hung to the back of his booted calves. He scanned the room with green eyes, a mischievous smirk on his lips as he did so.

The others openly stared at the man as he observed the room before his eyes finally fell upon them.

"Well, I hope I'm not too late for the meeting," the man commented with a smooth voice and an English accent.

"Loki?" Hades questioned after another long moment of silence, "What the heck are you doing here?"

"This is a meeting for so called bad guys, isn't it?" Loki questioned, quirking an eyebrow at the others, "Do I not qualify?"

"Uh, of course you do," Ralph answered quickly, "Though….you're not from the Magic Kingdom, so I'm confused about how you found out about the meeting."

"Oh, well that's an easy question to answer," a new voice replied, originating right next to Ralph's ear, causing him to jump in surprise, almost falling out of his chair in the process. Looking around, Ralph could not find who had spoken until a wide, sharp-toothed grin suddenly appeared in the air before him. A moment later, a pair of yellow cat's eyes joined the smile, quickly growing into a full fledged cat's head.

"Cheshire," Ralph growled, narrowing his eyes at the cat as its body materialized beneath the head, "I should have guessed you were the one who told him."

"So terribly clever," Cheshire said without a hint of sarcasm as he floated over to Loki, "That's what I like about you, Ralph."

"Look, Loki," Ralph said with a sigh, "You're welcome to be here, you really are, but I don't want any trouble."

"You would me, Ralph," Loki replied, touching his chest in mock hurt, "When have we ever given you any trouble?"

Ralph chose to not dignify that with a response, electing instead to narrow his eyes at Loki as Cheshire draped himself across the villain's shoulders.

"Point taken," Loki stated with an amused grin as he seated himself in one of the empty chairs while absentmindedly stroking Cheshire's fur.

"Look, are we going to get this show on the road or are we going to wait around to see if anyone else shows up?" Hades questioned with a note of impatience.

"No, I think that's just about everyone," Ralph replied with a small nod, "Already a bigger turnout than I was expecting anyways."

"So, how does this work?" Turbo questioned.

"Yes, Ralph, enlighten us," Loki added, his tone mocking.

Ralph paused again to shoot a glare at Loki.

"Alright man, why are you here?" Ralph questioned directly.

"Do you ask everyone who showed up that question?" Loki asked in turn, quirking an eyebrow at the wrecker.

"No, but that's because I already know," Ralph replied before indicating to the other villains with his hands, "Hades is here because his wife made him and Turbo is here because we're from the same movie. As far as I can tell, you're here to rib me, and I'd rather you just leave now if that's the case instead of you forcing me to make you leave later."

"Honestly, you're right, Ralph," Loki stated with a chuckle, "I came here to see what sort of joke this would all be, but in the end, it just seems rather sad. What are you hoping to accomplish here, Ralph?"

"I'm…." Ralph paused, his face flushing from a mixture of anger and embarrassment, "I'm just trying to help people."

"None of these people asked for your help," Loki pointed out, his tone growing cruel, "None of these people wanted your help."

"Sometimes people don't know how to ask for help, even though they need it," Ralph retorted, "I would know."

"You don't know anything," Loki spat, "You're just a fool who stole a stupid idea he saw in a movie."

Ralph's giant hands clenched into fists as he glared at Loki before he moved to stand up.

"Alright, how about you shut up?" Hades spoke up, narrowing his eyes at Loki, an action that caught Ralph completely off guard, "You might like the sound of your own voice, but it's starting to irritate me."

Loki turned to look at Hades, who was ignoring the way Ralph was blinking owlishly at him.

"Excuse me?" Loki questioned as he narrowed his eyes at Hades.

"You heard me," Hades replied, his firm gaze locked with Loki's, "Look, the fact of the matter is that this wasn't Ralph's idea. It was my wife's. And if you're calling this idea stupid, that means you're calling my wife stupid. And if you're doing that, then you and I are going to need to have some words out in the alley."

Loki held Hades' gaze for a few moments before he smirked and shook his head.

"So, it is true what everyone says," Loki stated, "Persephone really does have you wrapped around her finger."

Hades rolled his eyes at the comment.

"Look, either sit down and shut up or get lost," Hades stated as he eased back into his chair, "I want this to be over with as soon as possible, and you jabbering away is just making it take longer."

"Very well," Loki replied with a grin as he turned his attention back to Ralph, "I do have to say, I am rather morbidly curious. Come now, Ralph. Let's see what you have to offer."

Ralph eyed Loki for a moment before sighing.

"Alright, well the first thing we need to do is the Bad Guy Affirmation," Ralph explained.

"What the heck is that?" Hades questioned, quirking an eyebrow at Ralph as he spoke.

"It's sort of the mantra of this whole gathering," Ralph elaborated, "It's all about accepting who you are."

"Well, that sounds positively saccharine," Loki observed with a mocking grin.

"How does it go, Ralph?" Turbo questioned as he shot a quick glare at Loki.

"Well, usually we stand and hold hands," Ralph explained as he stood up, before he glanced around at the dubious expressions staring back at him, "But we can skip that part this time."

Together, the three villains stood from their chairs, each of them eyeing Ralph as they did.

"Okay, so, repeat after me, I guess," Ralph instructed awkwardly before taking a deep, calming and continuing, "I'm bad and that's good."

Ralph paused to allow the others to repeat, listening while Turbo mumbled it and Hades repeated with a sigh. Loki, for his part, merely chuckled and said nothing.

"I'll never be good, and that's not bad," Ralph continued, Hades and Turbo echoing him as he went, "There is no one I'd rather be but me."

A silence fell over the group as they finished, a surprised expression crossing Turbo's face while a thoughtful look spread over Hades' features. Loki, for his part, merely shook his head and chuckled to himself.

"Well, that is quite the adorable little oath you have there, Ralph," Loki commented as he sat back down, "Truly thought provoking."

"Come on, Loki," Hades said with a sigh, taking his seat again as well, "How many times do we have to tell you to keep your mouth shut before we just throw you out of here?"  
Loki held his hands up in a placating gesture and said nothing more, though his smug smile remained.

"So, that was pretty interesting, I guess," Hades commented as he turned his attention back towards Ralph.

"What do we do now?" Turbo questioned as he looked to Ralph as well.

"Well, now we usually share stories about how we've been effected by being bad guys and offer advice to one another," Ralph explained before noting the dubious looks he was getting, "I guess I'll go first."

Standing up from his chair again, Ralph gave a quick wave towards the others.

"I'm Ralph," he said, earning silent looks of confusion from the others, "Uh, you're supposed to say, 'Hi, Ralph.'"

"Why?" Turbo questioned in confusion.

"I-It's just how things are done, I don't know," Ralph replied quickly, giving Turbo a helpless shrug. In turn, Turbo looked over at Hades, who sighed and rolled his eyes as he looked.

"Hi, Ralph," Hades said, quickly echoed by Turbo.

"So, I'm not really a movie bad guy," Ralph began, "But I do have the experience of being a video game bad guy. For thirty years, I lived with people who couldn't stand me. I slept in a dump made out of bricks and was thrown off a building into a puddle of mud multiple times a day. I'll admit, it….wasn't great. It was frustrating and….well, it was lonely."

Ralph paused and glanced around at the others to gage their reactions. He was somewhat surprised when he saw that both Turbo and Hades were paying close attention to his words. He even noticed Loki watching him from the corner of his eyes, though the god was doing his best to appear as though he wasn't paying attention.

"It….It got to me, you know?" Ralph continued, feeling slightly more confident than before, "Having my face pushed into the muck day in and day out, all for doing a job that I didn't even want. I got resentful, focused on the negative, and in the end, I did something stupid that almost got a lot of people killed."

"But it wasn't all bad," Turbo spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Ralph questioned as he blinked at Turbo in confusion.

"Well, if none of that had happened, you wouldn't have met Vanellope," Turbo explained, "In the end, you became a better person because of what happened. Seemed like your friends did too. I mean, would you be doing this at all if none of that had happened?"

"I….I suppose not," Ralph replied with a thoughtful shrug, "Guess it's something to think about. Thanks Turbo."

"Hey, I'm just telling you what I see," Turbo said with a shrug, averting his eyes from Ralph.

"Why don't you go next, Turbo?" Ralph suggested as he retook his seat.

"Uh, sure," Turbo replied nervously as he pushed himself out of his chair and onto the floor, "So, I just talk about myself?"

"That's the idea," Ralph replied with a nod of his head.

"Okay," Turbo replied with a nod, "Well, um, I'm Turbo."

"Hi, Turbo," Ralph and Hades replied.

"Well, I guess in a lot of ways, I'm like Ralph," Turbo explained, "I'm a videogame character from around the same time period. Unlike him though, I was the protagonist of my game, and eventually, my game stopped being popular."

"What do you mean?" Hades questioned.

"When my game first came out, it was really popular," Turbo explained, a small smile spreading across his features as he remembered, "Kids had never seen something like it. But, eventually, someone made something better and the kids moved on to that. I….didn't take it well. I was so use to being in the spotlight that when people stopped paying attention to me, it kind of drove me a little….well, a little crazy."

"How crazy is a little crazy?" Loki questioned, causing Turbo to blink in surprise.

"Uh well, I jumped into the new game, looking to get the attention back," Turbo explained, "I kind of overdid it though and everyone thought that both my game and the new one were broken. Both ended up getting unplugged."

"What happened to you?" Hades inquired.

"I managed to escape," Turbo explained, "Eventually, I was able to sneak into another racing game called Sugar Rush. I realized that if I did the same thing as before, I would be caught and the game would be shut down again. So I….inserted myself into the game."

"How did you manage that?" Loki inquired.

"I had already figured out how the code of a game works from my time in my old game," Turbo explained, "My original plan for the first time I did this was to write myself into the game. After that got both games unplugged, I realized that to just do that was too blatant. So, I utilized some code that had been left over from an unfinished character."  
"What does that mean?" Loki asked.

"It means that the game developers started to create a character but eventually decided not to finish but left the leftover bits of data in the game," Turbo elaborated.

"This unfinished character would be that King Candy guy, right?" Hades guessed.

"Exactly. I combined my code with his own so that I could take his form as a disguise," Turbo confirmed, "And then, well…."

Turbo paused and looked over at Ralph, who let out a small sigh.

"It's alright, Turbo," Ralph reassured the racer, "I would be a bit of a hypocrite if I got mad at you for telling this story."

"Okay," Turbo replied with a nod of his head before he turned his attention back to Loki and Hades, "After that, I basically removed the real ruler of the game, Vanellope, from the code and made everyone forget about her."

"A cunning plan," Loki commented, "Why did it fail?"

"Bad luck mostly," Turbo answered with a shrug, "I didn't take someone from outside the game wandering in and wrecking everything into account."

"What do you do now?" Ralph questioned.

"Now?" Turbo questioned, hesitating as he thought the question over, "I don't really do much of anything. Sometimes I get to race in Sugar Rush but I don't think that's going to be happening again anytime soon."

"What makes you say that?" Ralph questioned as his brow furrowed in confusion.

"I…." Turbo paused as he thought over his words again, "Maybe this is a bad time to talk about this."

Ralph's expression remained confused and concerned but he nodded and kept from pressing the subject.

"Anyway, I think that's all I really have to share," Turbo stated with a shrug.

"Well, thank you for sharing, Turbo," Ralph stated with a nod before turning his attention towards Hades and Loki, "Who would like to go next?"

There was a long pause as Hades and Loki shared a look. After a moment, Loki smirked and bowed his head towards Hades while motioning for him to go ahead, prompting the god to sigh and roll his eyes before standing up.

"Alright, I guess I'll go," Hades grumbled, "Hi, my name is Hades, Lord of the Underworld."

"Hi, Hades," Ralph, Turbo, and Loki greeted together.

"So, I guess I'll get right into the whole 'origin story' thing," Hades stated as he made air quotes with his fingers, "My mom and dad were Titans, which means they were pretty bad news. Like, my dad ate me right after I was born. Let me tell you, going through puberty in your father's lower intestines is not something you want to experience. Eventually I, along with the rest of my siblings, were cut out when my youngest brother Zeus killed our father.  
"Now, you might be thinking, 'Well, Hades, it can't get any worse than that.' Well, you'd be wrong. See after we defeated the rest of the Titans and locked them away, Zeus, my other brother Poseidon, and I drew straws to see who would get to rule what. Straws. How messed up is that? And low and behold, Zeus, the youngest, happens to draw the straw that makes him king of the freaking universe while I get stuck with the Underworld. You know, the place where all the dead people go? It's not exactly a happening place, let me tell you."

"Odin's beard, are you a whiner," Loki groaned, leaning back in his chair as he rolled his eyes.

"Loki," Ralph barked as he glared at the god.

"You got something to say, pal?" Hades inquired as he narrowed his eyes at Loki, "You think you've had it worse than me?"

"I know I have," Loki answered, leaning forward as he gave Hades a mocking grin, "We're similar you and I, which is why I know."

"Why don't I show you some of the ways we're different?" Hades questioned dangerously as the flames covering his body began to turn red.

"Enough, come on guys," Ralph pleaded, holding his hands up to both Hades and Loki, "This isn't a contest."

Hades shot a glare at Ralph but visibly reigned his anger back in, his flames turning back to their normal shade of blue as he retook his seat.

"Good," Ralph commented with a nod before he focused his attention on Loki, "Now, since you seem to be so eager to talk about your experiences, why don't you share now, Loki?"

"Very well," Loki replied, flashing Ralph a smug grin as he rose from his seat, "My name is Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

"Oh please," Hades groaned as he rolled his eyes.

"Hades," Ralph said with an admonishing tone, "Let him speak."

Hades said nothing more, prompting Loki to continue.

"I was born in Jotunheim, the realm of the Frost Giants," Loki continued, "My father was Laufey, King of the Frost Giants."

"So….you're a Frost Giant?" Turbo questioned, his confusion clear on his face.

"I was born on the small side," Loki explained as he looked over at Turbo.

"That's one way to put it," Hades commented with a snort.

"Hades," Ralph said with a warning tone.

"It was my difference to others of my kind that shaped me into what I am today," Loki explained, "My father left me out in the cold to die but instead I was discovered by Odin, Lord of Asgard and Laufey's worst enemy, who decided to take me in and raise me as his own alongside his son, Thor."

"That sounds pretty good for you," Hades observed.

"One would think, and it was certainly an improvement over dying in infancy," Loki agreed, "But that life had its troubles as well."

"What kind of troubles?" Ralph prompted.

"I may have been raised by them but I was never truly an Asgardian," Loki explained, his expression growing pensive, "They were all dull brutes just like the giants they so hated. My skills lay outside of combat."

"So, you never really fit in," Ralph observed.

"No, I suppose I didn't," Loki agreed as he blinked his eyes and gave Ralph a small smile, "And then, there was Thor, the favored son. I may have been raised as a prince just like him but it was clear that I would never rule, despite it being, unknowingly, my birth right."

"So, you rebelled," Hades surmised.

"Precisely," Loki answered with a grin, though it fell from his face as he continued, "Though my plans have always been thwarted by the Odinson. Something I believe you are also familiar with, Hades."

"You got that right," Hades agreed with a snort.

"So, it is as I said, we are more alike than you thought," Loki stated as he retook his seat, turning his attention towards Ralph as he did, "Why, even Ralph and I have a few, basic similarities."

"Like what?" Ralph questioned as he quirked an eyebrow at Loki.

"Well, we've both been vexed by men wielding hammers," Loki explained with a smirk.

"I never really thought of it that way, but I guess you're right," Ralph agree with a chuckle before he patted himself on the leg and looked around at the three villains, "Well, I have to say, this all went a lot better than I expected."

"You know this was kind of fun," Hades agreed with a shrug before eyeing Loki, "Despite the company we had to put up with."

"Indeed," Loki stated as he grinned at Hades, "It was amusing in its own way."

"Well, if you guys liked it, I plan on doing it again next week," Ralph said as he stood up, prompting the others to do the same, "Until then, I guess we're done for tonight, unless you guys have anything else you want to talk about."

"Not particularly," Hades replied, stretching his back and grabbing another cookie off of the table, "The only thing I need right now is a drink. You want one, big guy? I'm buying."

"Sounds good," Ralph agreed with a nod.

"I think I might take you up on that offer as well," Loki stated as he and Hades made their way towards the door leading out the back room.

"That offer wasn't meant for you," Hades grumbled as he narrowed his eyes at Loki.

"You wound me, Hades," Loki said with a mocking tone as he placed his hand against his chest, "And here I thought we were becoming friends."

"When the Underworld freezes over, pal," Hades spat as the two of them exited the room, causing Ralph to smirk and shake his head.

"Uh, Ralph," Turbo spoke up after clearing his throat, bringing Ralph's attention to him, "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure, Turbo," Ralph confirmed as he turned towards the racer and quirked an eyebrow, "What's up?"

"Something happened today that I think you would want to know about," Turbo explained, his expression turning nervous, "Something involving Vanellope."

Ralph blinked in surprise for a few seconds before his expression turned serious.

"Tell me everything," he stated solemnly.

A/N: Had a lot of fun writing this one, especially the interactions between the various villains. Hope you guys liked it too! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


	5. Friends and Family

**Chapter 4: Friends and Family**

Night had fallen over the Magic Kingdom, bright stars twinkling around a pale, full moon. In one section of the Kingdom, the land gave way to an expansive sea, with white, sandy beaches leading into the gentle lapping surf. A few palm trees grew out of the sand, their broad, shady leaves blowing gently in the sea breeze.

Sitting beneath one of the trees were a pair of girls, Sofia and a girl of Polynesian descent with long, black hair and wearing in a red, floral dress. A short distance away from them, Vanellope sat by the sea, looking out over the ocean as the waves crashed against the beach a few feet away. Laying in her lap was a strange, blue furred creature that was roughly her size. It had large, black-tipped ears and equally large black eyes. Its mouth also seemed large for the creature, filled with sharp teeth and a long tongue that lagged out the side comically as Vanellope scratched the back of his head.

Sofia watched Vanellope for a few moments, worrying her bottom lip as she did, before turning her attention towards the girl sitting next to her.

"We should do something," Sofia said quietly.

"I know, but what?" the other girl questioned.

"I don't know, Lilo," Sofia admitted with a sigh as she buried her face in her hands, "I just don't know what to do."

"Maybe Dash will know," Lilo suggested, "You called him too, right?"

"I did," Sofia confirmed with a nod, "I don't know when-"

The sound of rushing wind met the girls' ears a second before an object approached them at breakneck speed, appearing as nothing more than a blur of motion and color. A second later, the object came to a stop next to the girls, kicking up a small cloud of sand as it slowed. A moment later, the cloud dissipated, revealing a boy roughly the same age as the girls standing there, his blond hair swept back from his face.

"Hey guys," the boy greeted.

"Hey Dash," Lilo and Sofia replied in unison as they brushed sand off their clothes and out of their hair.

"Where's…." he began to say, before he looked over to where Vanellope was sitting. His gaze lingered on Vanellope for a few moments before he turned his attention back to the other two girls.

"How long has she been like this?" Dash questioned.

"Since what happened today in her game," Sofia answered as she played with her hands nervously, "I've tried talking to her but….well, you know how she can be sometimes."

"Have you guys tried finding Ralph?" Dash suggested.

"He's busy doing something," Lilo explained.

"Vanellope made a point to tell us not to bother him," Sofia added.

Dash looked back over at Vanellope, smiling slightly as he watched her scratch the furry creature's stomach.

"Stitch seems to be cheering her up," Dash observed.

"A little," Sofia agreed, "But she's still clearly upset over what happened."

"Alright," Dash said with a nod, "I'll try talking to her."

"Good luck," Lilo commented, earning a snort of amusement from Dash as he began making his way across the beach towards Vanellope. Stopping next to the girl, Dash looked out at the ocean and listened to the waves crash against the shore.

"Hey," Dash said after a moment had passed, causing Vanellope to glance up at him as if she had just noticed he was there.

"Hey," Vanellope replied before she turned her attention back towards Stitch as the creature let out a pitiful whine.

"I heard you had a bad day," Dash stated off handedly.

"I guess," Vanellope answered with a shrug as she continued to scratch Stitch's stomach absentmindedly, not looking at Dash as she spoke.

"You want to talk about it?" Dash suggested.

Vanellope sighed loudly as she let her head fall back and hang loose.

"Sofia just doesn't know when to quit, does she?" Vanellope questioned as she glanced over at Dash.

"Can't say I blame her," Dash answered with a shrug, "She is, like, your best friend and she's clearly worried about you."

"What about you, Dash?" Vanellope questioned as she put on a mocking voice and fluttered her eyelashes at the boy, "Are you worried about me?"

"I'm worried you don't have enough brain cells to keep your body running if that counts?" Dash replied, earning a snort of amusement from Vanellope, "But seriously, do you want to tell me what happened?"

"...Not particularly, no," Vanellope answered with a sigh as she turned her attention back towards the ocean, "I just kind of want to forget today."

"Well, forgetting something doesn't mean it never happened," Dash pointed out.

"Look, I get you want to help," Vanellope said in annoyance as she looked at Dash again, "But I don't exactly see how you can."

"Try me," Dash replied with a shrug as he walked over and sat down next to Vanellope, "You might be surprised."

"Fine," Vanellope relented with another roll of her eyes.

"So, I heard that Taffyta was being a jerk today," Dash prompted.

"What else is knew?" Vanellope questioned with a snort.

"Okay, so she was being a bigger jerk than normal today," Dash amended, "What did she do?"

"Didn't Sofia tell you all of this already?" Vanellope questioned in return.

"She gave me the quick version," Dash answered, "I figured you could go into detail about it."

"Fine," Vanellope replied with a huff, "It was a pretty normal day. I was in Sugar Rush like usual, doing some races. McQueen and Turbo had stopped by to be special guests."

"Turbo?" Dash asked in confusion, "You let the bad guy from your movie race with you?"

"I'll get to that, don't worry," Vanellope assured him, "Anyway, everything went normally until Sofia stopped by to try playing the game and she decided to play as me."

"Sounds good so far," Dash commented.

"It was," Vanellope confirmed with a nod, "It was fun, like the races always are. It was at the end where things went bad."

"What happened?" Dash prompted.

"I wanted to win for Sofia so I…." Vanellope paused and let out a sigh before continuing, "I told her how to activate my glitch."

"Oh," Dash said, realization dawning on him, "I'm guessing Taffyta didn't take kindly to that."

"Nope," Vanellope confirmed with a shake of her head, "She called me a cheater and things kind of got worse from there."

"Worse how?" Dash questioned.

"She said some things," Vanellope replied vaguely, "Things that hurt….mostly because they were true."

"You're not a cheater, Vanellope," Dash sighed.

"Aren't I?" Vanellope retorted, "What do you call what I did?"

"Utilizing your unique strengths," Dash explained, "You use your skills as a driver when you're racing, don't you?"

"Yeah," Vanellope replied, her brow furrowed in confusion, "What the bits does that have to with what I said though?"

"Well, you use your skills as a driver to win races," Dash explained, "You're using your natural abilities to your advantage. You do the same thing when you glitch."

"That's not the same thing at all," Vanellope argued, "I had to practice to get good at driving."

"And you had to practice to get good at using your powers," Dash stated, "You told me that yourself."

"I-I don't know," Vanellope replied with a sigh, "It….It doesn't feel like the same thing."

"But it is," Dash explained, "Just because you're skilled at something doesn't mean that you don't need to practice. The best people in the world are those that are skilled at something and practice it."

"What are you trying to say, Dash?" Vanellope questioned.

"I'm saying that you shouldn't be ashamed of what you can do," Dash explained, "You're good at racing. Not only is it something you're born to do, but you've also got a special power that gives you an edge. That's not your fault and if people have a problem with that well, I guess they'll just have to get better."

Surprised by the statement, Vanellope could only blink owlishly at Dash.

"From what you've told me, people have been making you ashamed of what you can do your whole life," Dash continued as he rested his hand on Vanellope's shoulder, "Maybe it's time you start being proud of it."

Vanellope continued to look at Dash silently for a few moments before she leaned forward and pulled him into a hug. After a moment of surprise, Dash smiled and returned the hug. Another moment passed before Stitch let out a whine and forced his way between them, pushing Dash's face away with his hands.

"Alright, alright, I get it," Dash said with a laugh as he broke the embrace and took a step away from Vanellope, "You can have her."

"Stitch," Vanellope complained with a giggle, "Stop being a booger face."

"You're a booger face!" Stitch retorted childishly with a high pitched voice, earning laughs from both of them.

"Well, I'm going to take laughter as a good sign," Sofia commented as she and Lilo wandered over.

"Yeah," Vanellope confirmed as she smiled at her friends, "I think I'm done being moody."

"There's nothing wrong with getting upset about things," Lilo stated, "But we're glad that you're feeling better."

As Vanellope grinned, Stitch suddenly reached up and began pawing at her face, trying to bring her attention back to him.

"That's enough, Stitch," Lilo stated as she beckoned him over, "I think you're getting tired. You always turn into a booger face when you're tired."

"You're a booger face," Stitch whined as he made his way over to Lilo's side.

"I think we're all getting tired," Vanellope commented as she stifled a yawn, "Why don't I take you guys home?"

"Sounds good," Sofia agreed with a nod.

"Well, in that case, I think I'm going to take off," Dash said as he pointed over his shoulder, "I'll see you guys later?"

"Yeah," Vanellope confirmed with a nod before she gently smiled at him, "Thanks again, Dash."

"Don't mention it," Dash replied as he grinned and scratched the back of his head before waving and racing off.

A few quiet moments passed as Vanellope continued to look in the direction that Dash had run off in, a smile on her face. As she did, Sofia and Lilo shared a glance.

"Hello?" Lilo questioned as she stepped up next to Vanellope and waved her hand in front of the other girl's face, "Earth to Vanellope. Anyone there?"

"Huh?" Vanellope questioned before she blinked a few times and shook her head, "Sorry, I was-"

"Daydreaming about Dash?" Lilo suggested with a quirked eyebrow.

"What?" Vanellope asked in confusion, her cheeks turning slightly red as she did, "Why would I be daydreaming about him?"

"I don't know," Sofia replied with a shrug as she climbed into Vanellope's go-kart, "You were looking at him dreamily at the end there."

" _Dash and Vanellope sitting in a tree_ ," Lilo sang as she and Stitch climbed into the back of the go-kart, " _K-I-S-S-I-N-G._ "

"That spells kissing!" Stitch said with a cackle.

"Well, I just wanted to let you all know that I've decided instead of bringing you all home, I'm just going to go ahead and drive directly into the sea," Vanellope stated as she sat in the driver's seat and started the go-kart up.

"That's okay," Sofia stated with a grin, "I'm sure Dash will come back and save us."

Stitch let out another cackle of amusement as Vanellope pressed her foot against the accelerator, causing the go-kart to go shooting back towards Downtown in a cloud of sand, Vanellope lowering her head as she drove in order to hide the blush and small smile she was wearing.

 _Later_ ,

Vanellope's go-kart, now holding only herself, slowly rolled down the street towards Flynn's Arcade. As she approached the building, Vanellope was able to spot Ralph sitting on the bench outside the arcade. As Ralph turned his head to watch her, Vanellope glided to a stop on the street in front of him. Killing the engine, a quiet moment passed as the two merely looked at one another.

"Hey," Ralph greeted quietly, giving Vanellope a small smile.

"Hey," Vanellope replied as she hopped out of her go-kart.

"Where have you been?" Ralph inquired.

"I was hanging out with my friends," Vanellope answered with a shrug as she walked over to the bench and sat down next to Ralph, "How did your thing go?"

"Better than expected," Ralph stated.

"How many people showed up?" Vanellope asked.

"Three," Ralph answered.

"That's not a lot," Vanellope observed, her brow furrowing, "How many were you expecting?"

"None," Ralph replied with a snort of amusement, "So, with that in mind, I think it turned out pretty great."

"I can't argue with that," Vanellope stated with an amused chuckle, "So, who showed up?"

"Well, Hades was first," Ralph answered, "That wasn't too surprising. I figured if anyone was going to show up, it was going to be him, even if his wife had to twist his arm to do it."

"So, I take it he wasn't thrilled to be there?" Vanellope inquired.

"Not at all," Ralph replied with a chuckle, "But I think he was warming up to it by the end."

"Who else came?" Vanellope asked.

"Well, the surprise of the night was Loki," Ralph commented.

"Loki!?" Vanellope questioned, her eyes going wide with shock, "You mean the creepy wizard guy with the cat?"

"Yep," Ralph confirmed with a laugh and a nod, "You're reaction was pretty much the one I had."

"What was he doing there?" Vanellope inquired.

"Well, he was there to be a jerk," Ralph answered with a grimace, "Basically, he just showed up to laugh at me when I fell on my face."

"So, did you toss him out?" Vanellope questioned.

"No, actually," Ralph replied with a shake of his head and a small smile, "Hades was able to get him to sit down and shut up."

"He did that?" Vanellope asked in surprise, "And Loki listened?"

"Yeah," Ralph confirmed with a nod, "You know, I think I was starting to reach him a little at the end there."

"Yeah, right," Vanellope commented with a snort, "Maybe you can reach some of the bad guys around here, but Loki's a straight up supervillain. He probably stole candy from a baby on his way out."

"We'll see," Ralph replied with a chuckle, before the smile fell away from his face as he looked at Vanellope somberly, "There was a third person too."

"Who?" Vanellope questioned with a smirk.

"Turbo," Ralph answered simply.

The smirk fell away from Vanellope's face.

"Oh," Vanellope said as she looked away from him, "I guess he told you everything."

"Yeah," Ralph confirmed with a nod, "He seemed kind of worried about you."

"He did?" Vanellope questioned in surprise as she looked up at Ralph in confusion, "Why would he be worried about me?"

"If I had to guess, he feels a little guilty about everything he put you through," Ralph stated with a shrug.

"A little guilty?" Vanellope questioned defensively, "He should feel more than a little guilty. Are you trying to make me feel bad for getting mad at him?"

"Not at all," Ralph reassured her quickly, "You have every right to be mad at Turbo. He did some pretty bad things to you. But I also can't help but wonder if it's Turbo you're really mad at."

Vanellope went quiet again as she turned her gaze towards her hands, watching as her fingers played nervously with one another.

"No, I guess not," Vanellope admitted, "I mean, yeah, I am mad at Turbo, but I'm more mad at someone else."

"Taffyta," Ralph surmised.

"I'm guessing Turbo told you what she said?" Vanellope inquired.

"More or less," Ralph answered as he looked away from Vanellope, "I get why the comment on your leadership skills or your glitching made you angry, but not the stuff about me."

Silence fell as Vanellope said nothing, causing Ralph to turn his gaze towards her again.

"That is, unless what Taffyta said was true," Ralph commented, a surprised expression crossing his features, "Was it?"

"What?" Vanellope questioned in return, "That part of me sees you as the closest thing I've ever had to a dad? Is that really that hard to believe?"

Ralph merely blinked at her in stunned silence.

"Yeah, it kind of is," Ralph replied after a moment, "Why me?"

"Why not you?" Vanellope inquired, her cheeks glowing red as she spoke while avoiding eye contact with Ralph"You were the first person to care about me at all. Does it really surprise you that I'd maybe consider you as….something like my…."

Vanellope fell silent as Ralph reached out and gently rested one of his large palms on her shoulders. Looking up at Ralph, Vanellope locked her brown eyes with his and found him smiling at her.

"Back when I was living alone in a dump pile, I found myself wishing for a lot of things," Ralph stated, "At the end of the day, most of that amounted to just wanting someone else in my life. Back then it was more friends and admirers I was looking for, but now I feel like I'm looking for something more than that. Someone to be a big part of my life, whether that'd be a, I don't know, a girlfriend or something, or maybe its something like-"

Ralph was interrupted when Vanellope suddenly turned towards Ralph and embraced him as much as her short arm span would allow her to. Ralph looked down at Vanellope in surprise for a moment before a warm smile spread across his features and he wrapped one of his massive hands around the small girl and pulled her closer to him. Eventually, the two pulled apart and Vanellope wiped at her watery eyes before she smiled up at Ralph.

"You must think I'm such a big baby," Vanellope stated.

"Maybe a little," Ralph teased, prompting Vanellope to giggle and swat him on the arm, "Come on, you know I'm kidding. Obviously, you're a little baby."

Vanellope responded by climbing up onto Ralph's leg and repeatedly punching him in the chest, causing the both of them to break out into fits of laughter. As Vanellope's playful punches became weaker, Ralph reached out and wrapped his large arms around the girl. A smiling spread across her face, Vanellope returned the hug, wiping the tears that had begun to well up in her eyes on his shirt. After a moment, Vanellope pulled away and looked up at Ralph.

"Feel better?" Ralph questioned.

"Yeah," Vanellope replied as she wiped away the remaining tears away, "I think so. You don't think I'm weird?"

"I always think you're weird," Ralph replied, "But I've gotten use to it."

"I could start hitting you again, you know," Vanellope said with a warning tone.

"Well, I wouldn't want that, I bruise like a peach, you know," Ralph joked before his expression settled into a warm smile, "I don't think you're weird. I'm….I guess I'm touched."

"Well….at least that means Taffyta can't use that to be a jerk to me anymore," Vanellope commented with a small smile of her own, "Though, does that mean I have to get you a Father's Day gift?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Ralph said with a snort as he tousled Vanellope's hair and stood up, "Now, if you ask me, I think both of us have had pretty long days and we should try getting some rest."

"I guess," Vanellope replied as she stood up and rubbed at her eyes, "I'm still not sure that I can go back into Sugar Rush and not claw out Taffyta's eyes out yet though."

"I'm sure you'll manage," Ralph stated with a chuckle as he reached down and scooped up Vanellope's go-kart before tucking it under one of his large arms. As he did, he happened to glance down the street where the movie theater was. Catching sight of the large poster sitting near the box office, an idea formed in Ralph's head.

"Hey, here's an idea," Ralph commented, "How about I take you to that new movie coming out? I hear it's a pretty big deal when something new comes out in the theater."

"That new Snow Queen thing?" Vanellope questioned, looking uncertain, "I don't know. Not sure if it's my thing."

"Come on, it will be a good time," Ralph argued, "Besides, won't a new princess be coming in the next day? Isn't it your job to show her around."

"Ugh, you're right," Vanellope sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "I guess I'll have to go. Hopefully it won't be too cheesy."

"I bet you're going to love it," Ralph teased as he made his way towards the arcade.

"Sure, Ralph," Vanellope replied with a roll of her eyes as she followed him, "I'm sure it's going to change my life."

A/N: Hey guys, been awhile on this one, huh? Still I had some fun writing this one, hope you guys liked it as well! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!


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